Hidden Weakness
by ravenswan32
Summary: The preparation of the Crisis of the Planet was the thing that joined them. What if the Crisis itself was the reason for them to separate? And what if Sephiroth's hidden weakness was the key to the problem?
1. Prologue

_**Author's notes**: Hello, I am ravenswan32 and I am new here :) Please read and review... Feedback is appreciated._

Rating T

Notes: This will contain Crisis Core spoilers. Slightly pre-game, slightly AU.

AerisxSephiroth pairing, a hint of AerisxZack

* * *

Hidden Weakness

_Prologue_

5 years had passed since he fell in the mako pool. 5 years had passed since he started to hear her voice in his head.

However, he couldn't distinguish the _voices_. Sometimes it was wicked, somewhat loud, with a hint of evil in it. It was enticing, alluring and he couldn't resist the soft whisper. Then, the Voice confused him, screamed at him, asked things he couldn't achieve. Sometimes he couldn't even understand what the Voice said, because his mind was closed, with a tight shield around it. But that shield was breaking and the Voice was becoming more alluring. He was even starting to ask to its requests.

The other voice was different. It was the only reason he wasn't totally insane. This voice was pure and talked in sweet innocence. Sometimes it could get demanding too, but not the way the other did. This one tried to put feelings in his darkened heart. He liked the caress of this voice that sometimes made him feel human. He _never_ felt that human before. Not even when he thought he was human.

For a while he thought in which plane of existence he was drifting. The voices were clear but disturbing, one made him feel closer and closer to something that was above him, above all the humans, above all things on Gaia… the other one made him feel closer and closer to his planet, to the grass under his feet, to the sky he tried to touch. Closer to some kind of happiness he tried to deny all those years, to the simple things of life.

He had made decisions in his past that reflected themselves on the rest of his life. Hard decisions, somewhat painful. His isolation of human company, for example. Even if he looked tough and more and more resistant to life threats, he was just getting more weak. He regretted it.

He always felt superior to common humans. He always felt there was a strength in his body, a strength no one could manage to achieve. He always felt out of place and stupidly better than anyone else. However he knew that wasn't a special ability he adquiried when he was born. All was planned. He knew that very well. But his inner truth was hidden.

The only problem was that. The truth was hidden. His weakness was hidden inside. And it looked like no one knew what was troubling him. No one knew he was struggling inside.

He grew up to be a general and a perfect man, without weaknesses. But the ones who tried to create the "perfect monster" failed. He was weak, and that was the thing that made him hear her voice. She was searching for powerful, yet not perfect monsters. Monsters who could have weaknesses and bad moments. That was the _thing_ she was searching for.

And who better than Sephiroth to fulfill her request?

* * *

_Some time before..._

Aeris was singing in her church. Softly, her song made the flowers grew better. With care and affection. Love.

She knew amounts of people that were disposed of these kind of things. Men raised in the slums, alone in the dark, alone in the world. A lot of them had joined SOLDIER, to battle in exchange of money. To live better. Almost to sell their strength to ShinRa. Upwards was a dark world she dare not see. Where the sky stretched from east to west, from south to north. She was afraid of it. As if it was going to swallow her.

In her little church, with her sparkling flowers, she was safe. Surrounded by her own small world where no one could hurt her. No one could break her dream, a dream of seeing a better world blooming in front of her eyes. No war, no battle, no madness. She was always hoping for the day to come, hoping for the day the planet would rejoin again, and all its darkness would disappear on the stream.

She stood up.

Tiny sparkles of light were irrupting from the roof, making a exquisite pattern of light on the floor. Very carefully, she walked past the flowers and went down on her knees, right in the middle of the flower-bed. She looked up. She didn't saw only the roof, but the light that was far beyond it. She focused on good things. She focused on her own singing early in the morning. She focused on the laughing of children on the streets and the colours of the flowers that surrounded herself. She just thought of good things, things that made her smile, not cry with sorrow.

And moments later, she felt an energy. Light spread all around her, her heart light with joy. Then, the whispers of the planet came. Firstly, they were calm, like the vibration of harp strings in her ears... but the mood of the planet changed quickly, to the beat of drums later at the night. She heard the own lifestream, singing in her ears, gentle as the breeze, soft as velvet between her fingers. He didn't spoke to her. He just let her be surrounded in happiness and light. Then, she was aware of everything around her: the sound of people's footsteps, the noise of cars up the plate. She was aware of each presence, each noise, and each sound. Each sparkle, and each drop of water. Everything was so clear.

But then, when she started to raise up, to go home to make the daily chores, a blast of presence woke up in her mind. It appeared as the planet. Soflty, like harp strings, growing up like the beat of a drum! But she couldn't estabilish a connection between herself and him. He was protecting himself from her! Like if she meant some kind of harm to the poor fellow.

But she was insistent. She moved up her mind closer to his, to feel his fear, and his feelings. But he backed away. She tried, she focused on him. She just couldn't lose the oportunity to talk to him. He was special, like her. She focused again, filling all her mind with memories of joy. But he was too distant.

She talked to him. In a soft whisper, trying to calm the poor one. Like if she was trying to calm a scared puppy. She tried, she asked who he was, and where he was, and why was he there. But slowly and slowly, the shield around his mind grew tougher and Aeris lost him.

It all ended in a glimpse.

She raised and brought her hands to her face in shock. That wasn't possible. _She _was the last cetra. She was the only one on the entire Gaia who could hear the planet. Another ancient couldn't be out there. Or could he? Was he an ancient? Was he human? Was he even from Gaia?

She smiled. She would hear him again, and soon she would know his name. She was sure of it. And, on its time she would make a new friend!

A friend. Long ago she had a special one. But he was part of the dark world she tried to avoid. Even his eyes remembered the thing she feared the most. The sky. She had spent time with him and felt attached to his cheerful personality. He lighted her days. He made her feel rejoice where before was regret.

But long ago she had been said "all good things most come to an end" and it was that way. He had fall in the heat of battle and she had lost him, forever. She would never see his eyes again, or hear his jokes. It ended. However, it had been the most beautiful moment of her life. When he was alive.

Aeris walked out of the church silently. It wasn't easy to remember Zack. He had been so precious for her and made her smile in the most difficult moments. She prayed every night for his safety. Once when she spoke with the planet, she tried to sense his mind travelling down the lifestream. She had once sensed him. But when the tears started to run down her cheeks, he disappeared and she never tried to find him again. It would be too painful.

She smiled again. Her fingers the paper on the pocket of her jacket. The wishes she had never dared to show him. For him, she wrote "I would like to spend more time with you", but that wasn't what Zack asked her to do. She took the first written piece of paper out of her pocket and looked down at it. She put again the hand on her jacket and retrieved a pen. Looking at her wishes, she underlined the nineth "to find someone like me". It was one of the most important ones for her and it had came true. She was happy.

Then, as she walked to the exit, as soon as her foot touched the outside, the presence came, forcefully and brutally into her mind. She stared confused at some point on the ground when she heard his words.

"I think I am lost".

* * *

_**Author's notes: **Here it is, I hope it isn't really really really really bad. (At least I hope so). I don't know if I will keep this up, it will depend on what people say about it, so... feel free to review please!_


	2. Waiting for the Judgement Day

**_Author's notes:_** _Someone told me to continue and I am bored, so... (and I can say that I like this pairing a lot, too) well here I am... for you... out there... I suppose you aren't many but... what can I_ _do..._

**_Disclaimer:_**all this stuff is part of SquareEnix, and Sephiroth isn't mine, even if I wanted him to be... I won't create any OC, so, Mary Sue haters, you should be relieved.

**WARNINGS_: _**NOT AMAZING ENGLISH, ACCEPTABLE STORY (I think)

* * *

**Hidden Weakness**

_**Chapter 1 -- Waiting for the Judgement Day**_

_Son._

_Son._

"Mother?"

_You, my son, are so powerful. You could be so much more than what you are. _

"All Gaia belongs to you mother. Not those children. Worthless. Immature."

_I know son. Help me to get back what is ours, my child. You born from my soul and my power. Our family resided on Gaia's lands a long time ago. Everything was ours. But they took it away from us. We need to get it back. Everything. _

"It will begun. The Crisis. I know it. I will help you, mother. I will help you to get back what is ours."

_I know you will. I know you are proud of who you are. Of your power. And on its time, I will gave you what was taken from you so long ago. Power. You have some. But it doesn't compare to the power I can give you. It is so wonderful and magnificent that you will go on your knees before it. I can offer you all this, son. Do you want it?_

"What I want is to get back what is ours. I have the power. I have the power to destroy everything on that planet. I have the power to wipe the entire human race from Gaia!"

_Be humble, my son. You may have the power to destroy the entire Gaia, and the entire galaxy. But have you the power to control the Lifestream itself? Do you want to have the power to have back things that were taken away from you? The friends that betrayed you? Don't you want to remove bad things that happened in the past? To control Life and Death, laugh on their face? You would never die! Every soul that would fallen from the wound of Gaia would make part of you. They would make you powerful. They would make you their own god!_

"There are things in the past I don't want to revive. Suffering. And betrayal."

_But you could change all that. You could revive those men that made you sad and made them suffer. It would be your part on the play. To revenge against all the struggle that was in your heart. They would cry and pray for you to stop. A very strict punishment. A punishment that could last forever. Isn't it enticing? To think that every single men that made you suffer could end in a pool of blood at your own feet? Isn't revenge a sweet idea, my son? _

"The end of the planet. The home of the ancients, my own race. A home of peace that was destroyed by the humans. When the wound would be open I would see the promised land. And centuries and centuries of wisdom. All knowledge of Gaia and the universe. The Goddess herself. All the superior beings at the same level as I. Beings like myself. And the only thing I had to do would be to wipe the entire human race of Gaia like molesting flies."

_Yes, my son. It would be that same thing you are thinking. And that plane of existence you are floating would be controlled by you. All the wisdom, and all the rules. You would be above us all. I would make you my heir, heir of the ancients because I have that power. Can you resist to this idea, child?_

"No, mother."

_Do you want everyone to pay for your own isolation and sadness? _

"... Yes".

* * *

_Can you resist to this idea, child?_____

"No, mother."

_Do you want everyone to pay for your own isolation and sadness? _

_"...Yes". _

And she was gone. Sephiroth couldn't be dreaming in the Lifestream. Could he? And the bad memories that started to join and giving hands around his discernement were already making him crazy. He had suffered in the past. He had suffered when the men he thought as _friends _had betrayed him and his values. Like they had shoot him right between the eyes. And now there he was. Floating between life and death, punishment and freedom. He could feel the planet's life around him and its soft murmuring.´

And then he felt her. Always soft, always gentle, trying to reach him. He didn't know why he didn't mind to talk to the girl. She was too innocent, like a grown-up child. Sephiroth didn't know why, but sometimes he didn't felt so alone when near her presence. She spoke to him often. Frequently, she talked and he said yes, or no. Because just the fact he was hearing an human voice made him think about his mother's voice.

Mother had said she would make him powerful. Respected. They would all be devoted to him. She had said he would be the more wise and more strong being in the entire universe. Gaia would just be a tiny little spot in all his dominion. But humans were the thing that made him feel alive. Humans were the thing that made him feel sadness and the revenge. The struggle was created by his human influences. But he was not human. He was an ancient. Mother told him that. The heir to the planet, and the Promised Land that would be created on its soil. But all his human influences were making his heart back away from the source of power. But yes, he wanted the power. He wanted the respect. He always despised humans. But destroying their land was the same thing as destroying a piece of his own heart. Part of his power was gained there. Part of his respect was gained there. Part of his glory was gained there. And then he couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't take all the whispered voices on his back, and all the costumes people used to betray him. He was surrendered to the voice that made him feel what he was. Superior. More powerful. Different. Even if he was a monster, he was better than anyone else. Why wouldn't he act like one?

"Are you listening to me?" the girl's voice asked.

"Yes"

"Then please, are you going to tell me your name?"

"No"

"How many times have I asked you to say it?"

"How many times did I tell you I wouldn't?"

"Dozens"

"There you have. Be satisfied that I am even talking to you".

"I wanted to meet you on Gaia. I wanted to know where you are. Because that means I am not the last one! That means that it could be a lot of ancients hidden somewhere. And by all good means we could finally have peace. Bring back joy to Gaia and summon the Promised Land that so long ago disappeared."

"Don't think you can bring happiness for your people by yourself".

"That's why I am asking you to do it with me. Do you despise your race?"

"No. I despise humans. They should disappear from Gaia. The land is not theirs. We should be the legitimate heirs to it"

"I am half human. Don't talk like that to my another half breed. I understand your point of view. However, besides ShinRa, not all the humans are bad. Actually I have met a lot of good people, even from ShinRa. They were not that bad. You can't be so pessimist."

"I won't change my opinion. I don't like humans. They make bad things. They are taking the Promised Land away from us. Stealing it from us. It all belongs to the Cetra. The wisdom of the land is theirs, not of the humans."

"I have asked you to don't say bad things about humans. I am half human." she said. Her voice sent angry vibrations trough the stream that reached Sephiroth's mind.

"My apologies"

"Wait. Do you despise me because I am half-human?" she asked, bemused.

"How can I despise a child?"

"I am not a child. And lots of people despise children "

"I can't despise creatures without knowledge. I feel pity for them. They do not know what's outside of their colourful world."

They fell in silence. Sephiroth because he had nothing else to say, and Aeris because she was in mute amazement. Had that man suffered that much, to reach the point of saying he had pity of children...? And who was he, after all?

"But soon this world will end. Don't worry. All of us will go to the Lifestream. Then we'll find the Promised Land. It will be as simple as that. We will be free of pitiful humans. Pitiful children. Pitiful creatures without wisdom."

"Don't say that. The world won't end so soon. And then you will learn in your life that humans can be good persons too. Good friends."

Sephiroth laughed silently. Aeris could almost see a sarcastic smile on a face she did not know."I thought I had good friends. Believe me. All good things must come to an end. And all the people I thought as friends left me. So simple yet so painful, isn't it? Have you ever lost someone you liked a lot?"

"Believe me, I did. All my life. And I know that all good things must come to an end." she answered coldly "My family came to an end. My friendship relations came to an end. My happiness came to an end. But you know what's amazing in the middle of all of this? It's that even if I lost all my happiness, I can find it again. And I did. You are my actual happiness. I never thought I would find someone like me. And I did! Isn't it wonderful?"

"Hmph"

"I am happy I found someone to talk with."

"I won't be here forever. Soon you won't hear me anymore. I have things to do back on Gaia."

His last statement froze her."What to you mean, back on Gaia? Aren't you on Gaia?"

"I am. I think."

"Anyway, ancients are going to be back on the planet. I know that. But the world doesn't need to end to achieve that goal. You can do it the good way."

"Good way? Are you thinking that, by praying to the Goddess, she will make all the Cetra reclaim Gaia?"

"No. I believe that if you want it, you can achieve it."

"You live in a fantasy world. Not everything can be achieved the good way. We just have to wait for the Judgement Day."

And it ended. He backed away, slowly, and she backed to her body again, lying in the church.

Raising up, she looked around. Only her basket of flowers was lying close to her, her red jacket next to it, the crumble of paper poking out of the pocket. Aeris smiled and touched the bow in her hair. All good things must come to an end, Ifalna said before she died. All good things must come to an end, said the man in the Lifestream. Was it really true? Was that why Zack had died four years ago? Was that why she lost all the people that were precious to her? Would Elmyra, her stepmother come to an end? Would she die to provoke more sadness to Aeris?

She smiled sadly and leaned back, looking at the roof and wondering how was the sky beyond it.

* * *

**_Author's notes:_** _Maybe I will keep this up. Maybe. I have a better idea of the plot now. Sorry the bad English, I am trying to find a beta to help me. Please review and tell me what you think. :)_

_Ravenswan32_


	3. Encounters

_**Author's notes: **Here's the second chapter and... tell me what you think! :D_

_**Disclaimer**: All characters are property of Square Enix_

* * *

**Hidden Weakness**

**_Chapter 2 -- Encounters_**

She had been told Zack was dead four years ago. She had been told he had been killed on his mission to Nibelheim. He never came back to her, and no one saw him again. Part of Aeris accepted this true-hearted. The reality was painful and she would cry over him a dozen of times. But her another part didn't believe he had fallen in battle. The another part was feeding the fantasy that he was alive.

She had write letters to him. Tons of letters. He never replied. But she did never give up.

She didn't try to contact him in the Lifestream to be sure of his death, either. She was afraid of what she might found. If she found his soul drifting in the Lifestream, she would cry, knowing he was really dead. Better to convince herself his body was on earth and she could never speak to him again. That idea could be strangely more comforting than to know she could talk to him. Because if she did, she would miss his eyes colour of the sky and his arms embracing her.

In the Lifestream all she had was a voice. A cold, sometimes without sense voice. She wouldn't hear his cheerfulness again. Or read the happiness on his eyes.

She was half-ancient. An half-breed with half the capabilities. Her mother, Ifalna, had been contacting her since she was a child. As she grown up, the voice of her mother started to disappear and Aeris knew what loneliness was. Ifalna sounded caring and sweet in the Lifestream. But she was an ancient. A true blood ancient. She could transmit her own feelings and expressions toward Aeris. She had that capability and experience.

Aeris didn't have that ability. As an half-ancient she just could put a little bit of feelings on her voice. Nothing too big. Nothing too amazing. Zack, on his turn, would feel like a monotone empty voice, without emotions. Aeris couldn't handle to see her friend like that.

Short ago, she stopped feeding the fantasy. She send him her last letter and thought of him forever lost.

She had then the courage to feel him in the Lifestream. She felt him inside her mind. But she _expelled _him. She tried to deny his death all those years, and now something was sure: he was on the Lifestream, maybe being happy with his friends, the friends he had lost along his life. Maybe that part of the Lifestream was good. Where all humans could communicate between them.

But the barrier that separated her from that _world _was too thick. She lived in the plane of the Ancients. That would never change. She could feel millions of human lives, drifting in the Lifestream, on the other said of the barrier, but the ones she could communicate with had been extinguished long ago.

And now he had appeared! He was an ancient. A true blood ancient. She could feel all his feelings, his anger, carelessness and irony when he spoke to her. It was interesting talking to that man. He was different, and somewhat superior to any kind of race. Not a human, she thought. A powerful ancient. There was a great, latent power coming from his voice. He sounded indifferent to everything she said.

However, she was content to having him just listening to her.

* * *

_Son_

"Yes, mother"

_Go. Do as I say. Your body is lying on the Northern Cave. You'll wake up there._

"Yes, mother. I will help you taking back what's ours."

_Good, son. Next, kill the ShinRa president. He is on our way. The most dirty of all. His son is a dirty one too, but he is still young and inexperienced. You can finish him off once he gets annoying. Will you get mad if I ask you to kill the president, son?_

"No, mother. I hate him with all my life. If I had the power to send him to hell, I would."

_Good. I can give you that power. When we get back what's ours you can send him wherever you want. Create a fearsome punishment for him. Do you want to be a god, son?_

"Yes, mother."

* * *

"Do you really have to go away?" asked Aeris.

"Would I lie to you? Even if it is for the sake of my patience, yes, I do have to leave".

"You're making me angry. Do you even know what day is tomorrow?"

"Far beyond my knowledge."

"Tomorrow's my birthday. Are you going to depart in the eve of my birthday?"

"If it's in the date of my departure, yes." he answered coldly.

"Why? Where are you going?"

"Far away. I have important things to do on Gaia. Long-time affairs. Maybe we won't talk again. You can't be that angry"

"... Of course I am! Shouldn't I? I have been talking to you over eight months and you go away right on my birthday!"

She interrupted the link between them and folded her arms across her chest, back at the church. It wasn't fair. The man would break the link right on her birthday. Aeris would feel alone again. Like if all the hopes she had gathered on that month had just vanished. Her stepmother had always been enough company over the years... but she thought of the man as a friend. And there it was. The loss of a friend. Again.

She linked to his mind again.

"You're the fourth one I lost. The first one was my father, then my mother, then a friend... Now you. Well, what can I do? Do I have to be strong? Again?"

"It looks like so"

"And you? Did you lost important people on your life? Do you know how it feels for me to know you are departing?"

"I won't talk about that. I told you earlier that I won't reveal anything about my life. Isn't it clear?"

"Lord, you are going to leave tomorrow! Can you at least tell me your name?"

"No"

"Why?" She asked softly.

"Because I can't. And now, goodbye."

"Wait! Will I see you again?"

"I don't know. Now I am goi-"

"Wait! When's your birthday?"

The man remained silent. Aeris feared the worst. She waited. The link was breaking. She was sensing him go away, riding the flow of the Lifestream, backing away from her. Maybe he had just left. However before she noticed it, another presence was surging, powerful and strong from somewhere inside her mind...

"Are you there?" she asked to him "What's happening?"

_Keep away from my son!_

"What?!" she asked, feeling all the hostility from the another voice "Who are you?!"

She felt his friend in the grasp of the another soul, struggling against the mortal embrace that kept him away from Aeris.

_Don't get near my son! _

Her friend was escaping from the claws of the another voice, trying to reach her with his fingertips.

"Go away!" it was his voice, talking to her.

"What's happening?" Aeris asked, trembling from head to toes "Who's that?"

_Don't envolve my son in your little heart problems! _

"Run away, run away to the streets!" he said to her.

"What streets?"

"Aren't you on Midgar?"

"Yes, but-"

"RUN AWAY!"

Aeris broke the connection quickly and ran to the door of her church. She felt the hostile presence, trying to enter her mind.

Aeris tripped on the floor at the entrance, her pink dress cut at the level of her ankles, one of her knees bleeding from the fall. She raised and ran down the slums, clashing into various people that started to curse at her. The streets became more and more dark as she ran. For her much displeasure, the presence wasn't fading away, on the contrary, it was becoming more strong and forceful, her head aching terribly.

_Who could that be?, _she thought_. Is she the one he has talked me about? The other ancient that only he could hear? Why is she atacking me, after all? And why is her power so great that I can't endure it? Why does she feels so dangerous...?_

As soon as she was almost lost in the tight streets, she opened her mouth, screaming in pain at the headache attacking her.

_You're a danger to my son!_, screamed the voice,_ Go away, Cetra! Go away half-blood girl! You'll die, if you want to get in the middle of my plans! Your people betrayed me! I want this planet for me! My son is just a puppet... better than the others! Superior and more powerful than any man! You're getting in my way! You're danger to him, Cetra! You're too pure and innocent! Go away, Cetra, go away! _

Aeris continued to run, trying in vain to find the man's voice, trying to get away from the presence that grabbed onto her like a lion on it's prey. Then she heard his voice, clear as crystal inside her head.

"Run to the left, to the left!" he said.

"What?!"

"Do as I say"

"Who's she?!"

"She's nobody. Just keep running, or she'll catch you"

While she ran, the angry voice was loosing its grip on her. Relieved, Aeris turned on the left, her fragile figure involved in shadow. Her body tense from the race, she slowed down, turning calmly the corner of the street, the aggressive voice already gone from her head. She tried to localize the voice of her friend, who seemed so close to her.

"Where are you?" she asked "Are you in Midgar?"

"...Yes" he answered "I am close. Calm down, and keep walking"

Aeris did as she was said. She brought her hand to her forehead. Burning in fever, soaked to her bones in sweat, her dress cut at the level of her knees, blood running down her leg, her head trobbing in waves of pain. Her hair was loosing on her back, Zack's pink bow in her hand. When she turned another corner, feeling him getting near her, her eyes were clouded in fatigue and pain, her lungs shaking inside her chest.

"Are you there?"

"I am near. Be calm. Breathe."

She felt him getting closer to her, his presence inside her head, alive and vivid.

And then, when Aeris turned another corner, she bumped into something hard. She fell to the ground and something fell on top of her. Grunting in pain, she looked up, trying to see her hero and friend. Her eyes were covered by locks of silver hair. He moved and uncovered his face. She could not see his face her eyes clouded and heavy, but when he fixed her with a pair of deep green eyes, her eyelids closed in fatigue before a word echoed inside her head.

_Sephiroth.

* * *

_

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**Author's notes:** Well, here it is, please tell me what you think! :)

ravenswan32


	4. Realization

_**Author's notes:** Here it is! :) Hope you like it! _

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything. What a shame.

* * *

Hidden Weakness

**_Chapter 3 -- Realization _**

"Hellooo!"

The boy opened his eyes.

"Hooray!" she said happily.

He looked back at the sound of the voice, only finding Aeris with a big smile at the corner of her lips.

"Heaven?"

She smiled.

"Not quite. Church in the slums!" she said as he rose on his elbows.

"An Angel…?"

"No!" she smiled again "I am Aeris!"

She looked up at the hole on the roof of her church and pointed to the light coming from it.

"You fell from the sky! Scared me."

The boy looked at Aeris in amusement. "So you saved me, huh?"

She blushed and turned around. "Not really… 'Hellooo!', that's all I did!"

He laughed after she spoke. His laugh was vibrant and young.

Raising up, the boy looked at her. Aeris noticed how tall he was compared to her.

"Thank you so much… Aeris. I am Zack" Crossing his arms, he frowned "I have to repay you somehow…"

Aeris looked to the floor. "No" she declined "Don't worry about it"

He stepped around her, thoughtful "No, no…"

She looked at him, in expectative.

"Ha ha! Hey… what about one date?" he proposed, finishing with a childish look.

Aeris blushed and looked to the ground "What is that?... Don't be silly…!"

He sighed after her decline. Folding his arms, he started to pace around, abstracted...

"Stop! Don't step on the flowers!"

Looking confused, he looked at the ground. A flowerbed was lying on the floor of the church, the flowers blooming in light colours. "… huh, excuse me?"

Aeris put her hand on her waist. "Normally, people are more careful with flowers!" she stated, puckering her lip.

"Well… I guess I'm not normal…" he looked to the flowers then. "Huh? You don't see a lot of flowers in Midgar…! They're like luxury items around here."

Aeris looked tenderly at her flowerbed "They only grow here… Although, I planted some outside my house, too!" She chuckled.

Zack turned back. "If I were you, I'd sell them!"

"Huh?"

"Midgar's full of flowers, your wallet's full of money!"

Aeris repeated Zack's statement for herself, thinking. She smiled."Never thought of it that way…"

* * *

The girl woke up from her dream. Zack was always part of her dreams. Her meeting with Zack was one of the things she most enjoyed on her life. A precious memory that would never be erased from her head. The thing Aeris feared the most, besides the wide open sky, was the loss of Zack's memories. Without Zack she would be nothing.

Raising a hand to her head, she understood everything. The memories of the early meeting came flowing from her mind. The voice, knocking her down on the streets, the voice of her friend helping her to run from the stranger… the bright pair of green eyes before her fainting…

Then, the name of the stranger popped into her head. Sephiroth. Sephiroth, Midgar's hero, was the first man she thought of when she fixed that deep gaze. As if she had ever see him right in front of her! But Zack had seen him before. Zack had said he was afraid of his cold gaze. A true, emotionless gaze.

_It looks as if he isn't really aware of anything. Like if he is drifting somewhere else. Like if his soul is in the edge of his sword and not inside his chest. As if life was so painful for him that he had to regret it all his life. If everything was took away from him: his identity and emotions… _

Zack had said that long ago about Sephiroth. The gaze of the man she had see the other day _– had it pass a week? Had it been yesterday? – _had remembered her of Zack's description of Sephiroth. Aeris didn't know why, but she did never forget that conversation. She had forgotten a lot of the time they had spent together. But that memory was vivid inside her mind as if it was yesterday.

She rose. The room was little and dark. She could see dust on the floor of all the extension of the tiny room. The sheets were crumpled at the edge of the bed; the blanket fell to one side of the bed. Silence was all around her. Aeris started to feel apprehensive. She felt worst, when she saw her dress laying on a chair, her boots on its seat. Zack's ribbon was nowhere to be found.

Panic started to flow when she really didn't know where she was. Afraid of searching the house, she stayed still and quiet, toying with her fingers, hard breath coming out from her mouth.

What if her friend had leaved her and she was found on the streets by bad men? What if she was touched in an indecent way?

Aeris shivered underneath the covers and felt a couple of tears running down her cheeks. The fear was too big for her to control it. The light was dim and everything in that room inspired fear within her. All the dust and darkness around her were the opposite of her bright church, with her flowers blooming. In that tiny little room she couldn't even sense the Lifestream's presences and the Planet's voice. Everything there made her feel terrified.

However, Aeris wasn't a coward. She stood up and started to search the room, trying to find something that showed where she was. There weren't pictures on the walls neither any sign of life around. Opening the drawers, she didn't saw any kind of clothes, only a slight sheet of dust covering the bottom.

Sighing, Aeris reached for the rusty doorknob. Enlacing her fingers on it, her heart started to bump inside her chest.

She suddenly heard a noise outside the house and footsteps on the corridor. Calm, strong steps coming into her direction. Aeris didn't thought twice: she grabbed the pink piece of cloth of her dress and held it against her chest, only covered by her underwear. The footsteps were closer and closer; her heart was racing, her eyes wide open to danger.

The door was opening on the other side. Aeris took a step back, her garment pressed to her body with trembling hands, her knees shacking madly.

The door opened. A thin stripe of light invaded the room, exposing her fragile figure. There was a great shadow on the passageway. The man's eyes were piercing her like knifes, his mouth drawing a thin line at her sight. He extended his hand. Aeris could not see what he was holding within his closed wrist. She talked.

"What…What is that?"

He opened his hand, revealing a piece of pink cloth that fell to the sides of his palm. Aeris gasped and grabbed the cloth, pressing it against her lips.

"Thank god… I thought I lost it!" she said, leaning her head down, memories of her dream flowing into her head. She looked to the man again. Accustomed to the light, she could see the man's facial figures. High cheekbones, thin lips, piercing green eyes…

"_It looks as if he isn't really aware of anything. Like if he is drifting somewhere else. Like if his soul is in the edge of his sword and not inside his chest. As if life was so painful for him that he had to regret it all his life. If everything was took away from him: his identity and emotions…"_

"No…" she said under her breath. "This can't be true…"

The man, being one head taller than her leaned his head to look at her. He didn't say anything. He just stared at her face, his eyes analyzing her reactions.

"You can't be… Are you?" whispered Aeris, taking a step back."You are... _him?_"

The man didn't say a thing. He simply extended his another closed hand and waited for her to react. Aeris was too confused, too scared to do anything. If the man standing before her was Midgar's hero, the army's general, Wutai's slayer… if that was the man said to be dead four or five years ago… Could Zack be alive too? No… Aeris sensed Zack on the lifestream. Aeris sensed his soul drifting in the emptiness of the Great River. Zack was within the dimension of the dead. He could only talk to the souls of his race. The souls of his people. Zack had fall. Zack had fall in the name of dreams and honor.

Somehow, Sephiroth managed to survive. Sephiroth managed to survive to the big and mysterious accident that happened five years ago. After all, Sephiroth once was the most powerful being in the entire planet. Sephiroth was so powerful no man could harm him.

"Are you Sephiroth…?" she asked innocently, backing away "Are you _the_ Sephiroth…?"

There was a moment of silence between them. He opened his hand, revealing a blue ribbon, the same size as Zack's, the same fabric.

"This is for you. And yes. I am the one you mentioned" he stated firmly. Aeris took the piece of cloth from his hand and touched it. The piece of fabric was so soft under her fingers. The same touch as Zack's one when it was new. She pressed her hand against her chest again, protecting her uncovered chest from his eyes.

"But how did you know…" the brunette asked as she held the ribbon. He looked at her curiously, his eyes capturing hers. Than truth hit her between the eyes. The man, _Sephiroth_ was her friend. Her eight month friend. The most powerful being in the world was the _voice_t hat actually talked to her from the Lifestream! Aeris didn't hold the shock: she gasped and took a step back, into the darkness of the room. Reuniting all her thoughts together, she tried to regain control calmly. Sephiroth actually managed to survive. Zack had died, but Sephiroth survived. Then, ShinRa said Sephiroth had been killed. Maybe the man was captured by enemies or he fled by his own will. Five years had pass and almost one year ago, she felt him in the Lifestream. She spoke to him, not knowing his identity. Now, he got to Midgar and was in front of her, after being chased by an angry voice.

"Happy birthday, then" he congratulated, trying to ignore her shocked face. When he tried to get behind her, she quickly turned around, hiding her naked back from him.

"Why am I almost naked?" the girl asked, her lip twitching.

"Because you were bleeding and sweating. And dirty like hell. Aren't those enough strong reasons to force me to undress you and clean you up?"

He grabbed the girl's boots and threw them at her. The brunette started to dress on a corner of the room, listening to him. "Dress quickly. We're leaving. Midgar isn't a safe place for you anymore."

Aeris stopped dressing and let the pink garment fall to her knees "Why? What happened while I was off?"

Sephiroth looked at her, and then into the ground. "The president was killed. There is police all around the city and they're searching for the murderer. Lots of people have been arrested in the last night for stupid reasons. When they hear you were running like mad by the streets they will go after you. I can't be here too. We have to leave."

The girl was terrified. The president was killed. Even if the vice-president would take his place, a new Midgar would rise. The chaos would install in the city and it would be hard for everybody to live calmly.

"Where are you taking me?"

Sephiroth's hand slid to the doorknob. "I don't know. Maybe east and then south, through the swamps. I can't decide yet. But come with me. You can't be here any longer."

Aeris intertwined Zack's and Sephiroth's ribbons in her hair, sliding the tiny white material orb between the fabrics. "I have a mother. I can't leave her here. Can she come?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "Don't even think about it. I need you, and only you, and that's why you are coming. I can't leave you in danger. Your mother will be safe here. You won't. You know what you are."  
Aeris nodded. "I do know. But I can't leave my mother here, alone. It will be very painful for me. Let me at least say good-bye to her." She reached to the door, but he raised one hand and stopped her.

"The turks are around that area. If you go to that place they will find you and bring you to ShinRa's headquarters. I can't lose you now. You need to come with me right away, as still as the guards don't come to this area of the slums."

Aeris sighed and leaned her forehead against the door. She had a terrible fear for the man. She did not dare to deny his requests. After all he was being was polite as possible. _Cold_, but polite.

"Let's go, then" Sephiroth said, opening the door.

Aeris left the room, followed by the tall man, her heart racing, her mind a storm of emotions. She was completely oblivious to the pair of green eyes that pierced attentively her braid, the two pieces of cloth knotted in each other, and principally, the little round shaped object between the fabrics.

* * *

_**Author's notes: **Many thanks to Ranea, ShadowXenVII and Little Dog!. Many, many thanks! :)_


	5. Candlelight

_****_

Author's notes:

_Well, here it is, after a while… If you like, review. If you don't, review, too. Please. And forget the AU. I am going to follow FF7 storyline. _

_**Disclaimer: **__No, I don't own Aeris, Seph or Zack. Too bad. XD_

* * *

Hidden Weakness

_**Chapter 4 -- Candlelight **_

She hadn't heard about the president's murder. However, when Tifa switched on the TV, the first thing that flashed on front of her eyes was the image of the president's dead body impaled with a long sword. A sword she did not see long ago. Pressing her hand against her chest, she felt a lot of memories coming back to her. Long ago that sword cut her own skin, in a fatal wound she would never forget.

"Cloud" she called. "Cloud, come here".

She heard steps in the upper level of the bar. Looking at the television and the images of the dead body rolling before her eyes, the young man walked next to her.

"What is it…?" he asked in a husky voice. He looked at the TV then.

His mouth popped open when he saw a couple of employees, surrounded by cameras and people with shocked expressions on their faces, covering the president's face with a piece of black cloth. Some men were cleaning a trail of blood that came from the stairs and ended at the chair of the president, the lights of ShinRa's Headquarters dim. Soft whispers echoed in the walls, underneath the sound of the interlocutor voice.

"Who cares?" Cloud said, after a moment, closing his mouth. "Everyone despised him. No one liked what ShinRa was doing. Maybe they'll stop with the reactors now."

Tifa almost smiled. "No. Look at that.".

Cloud looked at her. "What?"

Tifa pointed at the television. In the dark room of the bar, the multicolored lights from the screen were the only thing that lighted her shocked expression. "Look _there_".

The young man did as he was told. Looking at the TV, he searched for something unusual. Besides the employees, and the body being carried away, he did not see anything. However, later, the camera focused on something: a couple of scientists were studying an object, one of the men with a black ponytail and glasses on the top of his pointy nose. The man caught his attention; however, he looked at the object he was analyzing. Sharp, long, agile blade, covered in blood until the middle, shiny point, strong grip.

At first, he didn't react. But when he looked at the blade again, his eyes widen in terror. He felt the touch of fire burning against his skin, the heat on his face and his body, his eyes darkening with the sneaky shadow of death. Trying to see in the middle of fire, he caught the glimpse of a man dressed in black, in the middle of a burning street. An equal blade was in his closed grasp, long fingers around the grip of the weapon. The man turned to him. Cloud searched his eyes in the middle of the flames, and when he found them, he saw all madness and terror that the world hid. The man smirked and he felt an excruciating pain hitting him in the stomach, searching something deep inside of him, for his soul, for his heart. Or were his memories…?

"Cloud. Are you alright?"

The man jumped at her voice. His clothes were glued to his body in sweat, his eyes wide and terrified, legs and body shaking to the flashback. After a moment's shock, blinded by his own mind, he spoke.

"Sephiroth".

* * *

They left Midgar that night.

The television crew, as ShinRa's functionaries, were roaming the streets. Less wealthy people were at the door, children gripping their hands, looking at the holophotes lights in the tiny breaches of the plate. Hundreds of noises, like horns and hooters could be heard in the slums, disturbing the sleep of those who couldn't rest in the day. The vision was from the one of a nightmare, and Aeris, seeing the people she loved the most so scared and unprotected, wanted to stop in her heels and embrace them, saying everything would be alright.

However, Sephiroth wasn't a sensible man. He guided her through the streets, making sure no one could catch a glimpse of them. To Aeris, those minutes to get off of the city looked like hours, seeing the suffering of the people, the screams and the tears, thinking they would be unprotected without the president.

Sephiroth didn't care of her sadness. He quickly guided her on the streets, in the middle of buildings, under arches and small bridges, until she reached the doors of Midgar on the sector six.

"Quickly" the man said, grabbing her wrist "or they'll capture us.".

Aeris hesitated a little, looking at the city. Her whole life, extending before her, a life that took shape on those streets. Everything was fading away as she stepped closer to the outside of Midgar. Everything was slipping through her fingers, like the wind and the water.

"Come" he insisted, pulling her closer to him.

A sigh escaped her lips. Looking at Midgar, and then to the gates, she put a cold posture, bit her lip and passed by Sephiroth, walking confidently to the gates.

She would finally see the sky.

Aeris never asked Sephiroth why he was taking her with him. She didn't care, either. Everything she wanted was to say goodbye to a part of her life that had too many influences on her heart. Zack's depart, her mother's death, victim of scientific exploration, her father's murder, and everything she lost on the way, and all the friends. Everything ShinRa had produced on her while she lived on that disturbed world. All sadness, all despair... all confusion, and suffering. Why was she still keeping vivid the darkest part of her life? Couldn't she get through it, and start something new, far, far away from the ghosts of her past? Was the man the escape from all her suffering?

"Are you tired?"

Aeris shook her head "Hmm?"

"I am asking if you're tired"

The flower girl clenched her hands. "No. I am fine. Not used to sleep very much. But _that thing _is bothering me".

"…what?"

Aeris looked up, semi closing her eyes. "The sky. It's so big. Like if it is going to swallow me. I am afraid of it. And all those stars look like bright eyes staring down at me. I feel like if I am being watched."

Sephiroth didn't answer. He kept on walking, his bright hair flowing down his shoulders and back bounced as he walked, capturing glimpses of the night shines. Aeris didn't dare to look at him straightly, so she didn't pause her walk, as she thought on her own words.

"Tonight the sky isn't scary." Stated Sephiroth, after a while "Imagine it the colors of fire, imagine to feel the heat coming down to the surface of the planet and burning your skin and your own soul. Imagine the fire consuming everything, and swallow every tingle of life. If you try to imagine that sky, you'll find this one really peaceful."

Aeris stopped on her tracks and looked up. It was big, it was deep, but peace irradiated from it. The silence was unbearable; she could almost swear the Planet was singing only for her, inside her head.

"But the sky will never be like that" she assured "the planet won't let it happen. It will always be peaceful, dark, and silent".

"Are you so sure…?" he asked in a whisper. "What if it changes?"

Aeris chuckled "that won't happen. Don't be silly. But it is so scary. It looks as if there's something far, far beyond it, so mysterious that no being, _not even an ancient_ knows that secret. And I feel that that secret is looking down at me, so intensely it pierces my soul. Like if I am exposing my heart and my mind, and that _secret_ can read everything I think or feel".

As the time passed, Aeris found herself telling Sephiroth all the many ways the sky scared her. He was listening intently and silently, absorbing her words and thoughts. The night passed by quietly, and they found themselves standing on front of an inn, hidden between a group of trees. The lights of the rooms were shining beyond the windows glass, giving the small cottage a cozy feeling.

"Let's rest here." Sephiroth said, advancing to the building, expecting her to follow him. Aeris followed the silver haired man, humming silently, trying to not look up.

The interior of the cottage was dark and silent. A man was sat on the other side of the counter, counting a full hand of gil coins on his palm. Aeris advanced to the man and smiled.

"Good night. We would like to stay here for the night. Do you have any room available?"

The man extended his palm and pointed at it with the other hand. "15 gil, if you don't mind".

Aeris looked at Sephiroth. The man brought a hand to his pocket and retrieved some gil coins. He counted them and put them on the hand of the innkeeper.

"Up" he said. "The first one at the right".

Aeris nodded and climbed the stairs, followed by Sephiroth.

The room was small and cozy, lighted only by the fireplace at the wall and the little candle on the top of a small table that separated the two beds.

Aeris sat down on the bed closer to the fire. She set her braid loose, holding the two ribbons on her hand. She desperately tried to unknot her messy hair (full of dust from the little house Sephiroth left her, the running from the evil presence and that long walk, across the fields). The silver-haired man sat on the other bed, looking at the fire next to the brunette. His gaze was lost somewhere in the flames. While she was looking at him, a sudden rage set across his features.

"What is it…?" the flower girl asked.

"Nothing. It… it's nothing." Sephiroth shook his head and tried to hide his face. "Sleep. Tomorrow we have to get up at midday. Then we'll walk to the Chocobo Farm. Hopefully we will get a couple of rooms there and we rest until the next morning. "

Aeris nodded and looked at the fire too. It was beginning to extinguish slowly, the last remnants of the flames darkening in the base of the fireplace. As time passed by, Aeris asked herself if Sephiroth was already sleeping. _No,_ she thought inwardly_ I feel his eyes on my back and his presence in the room. Why is it so hard to look back at him…? Am I afraid of him…?_

She finally gained the courage to look at the ex-general, turning back and facing him. His silver hair was covering his face. Shiny green eyes pierced her soul mercilessly. Aeris felt like she was plunging in the lifestream itself and knowing all wisdom that flowed in it. And then, he looked at the fire again. She saw the remains of the fire reflecting in his cat-like eyes. However, watching narrowly, she didn't see the tiny scraps of fire; instead of the fire remnants she saw big columns of flames, towering over a small village and over a man dressed in black, whose silver mane bounced on the gentle breeze of the night.

"What?" she asked suddenly, standing up. She closed her fists, trembling madly at the vision. "What was that?"

"...It was nothing" he said in a whisper.

The fire died. They sank in darkness. Only the candle on the top of the bedside-table was lighting the room.

Sephiroth was covered in shadow. Only his eyes sparkled coldly.

"What are the ghosts that follow you?" Aeris whispered "You always say it to me. Ghosts and spirits that followe you at night, scream at you, and beg for mercy. What have you done in the past to have such nightmares?"

"The ghosts inside my head are there for involuntary actions. If I was aware of my deeds, I would not be terrified before this wall of horrors. Everything is just too vivid in my mind. Everything within my soul is consumed by a force never seen on Gaia. My sins can't be forgiven. They will never be. I am accustomed to live like this."

"In pain?" she asked angrily, folding her arms "It can't be that bad. Everything you did in life… it was for ShinRa. For the rise of a nation, for the rise of Mako and the energy the reactors produced. You fought for your beliefs. Even if men died at your hands, it was for a noble reason. The world is divided by factions and nations. All of them fight against each other to win. Nature was born like that. It's the natural order of things. All the bad things you've done… they were for your beliefs. You fed your soul and you mind with the hope of seeing the world turning to the thing you wanted to."

"What if… what if my faith isn't on the mako reactors, and the energy Midgar produces? What if my image was just a fake? A fake to fight alone."

Sephiroth moved his head to cover his eyes with his hair. He didn't want the girl to see the shame in his eyes. See the dishonor.

Angeal always said the same thing, over and over again. Sephiroth heard it a thousand times. But those times were never enough. Even if he said he was tired of the SOLDIER's sermons, every time he heard the man say that phrase, those words produced different effects on him, each time they were pronounced. Even if he had heard it hundreds of times, he had failed his friend. He had failed his SOLDIER's honor. And dreams… Sephiroth thought he never had them before. Like a thing he couldn't reach or touch. A very far reality.

"You still don't know a thing about life" he said, lying down on his bed and looking up at the ceiling. "Maybe you'll never know. What a SOLDIER endures during the war. It's painful. Hard. Some men supports ir, other doesn't. You're just a girl that sells flowers on the streets" he smiled inwardly "you'll never have a man's blood on your hands, or the dirt of the battlefield on your clothes. A man's death can be sad for you, but for a SOLDIER, is the most painful thing on earth. However, death doesn't molest me anymore. I have endured it all these years."

He paused, amused. " …Life can be such a sensible thing, that slips between our fingers so easily."

Aeris eyes were beginning to wet. Sephiroth fell in silence. After a while, when she could only hear her friend's heavy breathing, she extinguished the candlelight and lied down, closing her eyes. She pulled the blanket over her body and tried to ignore Sephiroth's presence next to her.

Her dreams were assaulted with images of the ex-general killing mercilessly on the battlefield, his eyes always on her.

* * *

_**Author's notes: **__Here it is! Please review and tell me what you think. :)_


	6. Five Years Ago

_**Author's notes: **__Please review and tell me what you think, because the feedback would make me write faster and know what you want from now on. AUish. _

_**Disclaimer: **__All rights go to SquareEnix. Yeah. Again. _

* * *

Hidden Weakness

_**Chapter 5 -- Five Years Ago**_

_Son?_

She came in his sleep.

_My son. Listen to me. _

He slowly opened his eyes. But he did not face the inn's ceiling. In fact, there was a river flowing up around him, a green stream that softly touched his skin, caressing him in a velvety texture. There were tons of voices around him, like thin whispers. Even if he heard all those voices, he felt like he was swimming among silence, on a never-ending race. He didn't felt peace, not when he was near her. He felt a sinister voice entering his mind, and alluringly started to grab his chains of consciousness and sense, dragging him to the ultimate madness, in a world where everything spun around him at high speed, where dark memories covered his identity.

_Yes, mother?_

He was already caught in the spider's web.

_What's the girl doing with you?_

Sephiroth blinked. The girl…? Ah…

"She's powerful, mother. Ingenious, too. Pure, like a child. However, she has the holy materia, mother. I caught a glimpse of it. A radiant interior light emanates from it; she tries to hide it from me, but I felt it a long time ago, when you were keeping me in the lifestream. Every time she talked to me, I could sense its energy."

_It's not just energy, my son. It's holy energy. Something you must run of. It infects you like poison, just like the black materia will infect her too. She may look pure and innocent, but that's how the animal captures its prey. Don't be a fool. It's easy to lie, but it's not easy to tell the truth. A girl with so much power under her sleeve can't act like a child. She must have an immense power and wisdom. All wise things on earth don't choose the path of the light. _

"No, mother. That's how she is. She told me about that materia. She told me her mother gave it to her, and that she doesn't even know how to use it."

_Son! Don't be silly! You're intelligent enough to escape from the claws of a liar! She carries the second biggest power with her. How could a power so great come to her hands? Do you think she just found it in the streets? That girl is a danger for you, my son. She is poison; A fatal disease._

"Even if she is poison for me, I must have my eyes on her. That little piece of materia is enough to stop everything we've planned until now. Even if I get hurt with this… she must not run away from me. If I have control over her, I can still stop her from summoning the materia when the time comes."

_Do as you wish. But do not fail me. _

"No, mother."

The spider released its victim. Sephiroth slowly backed off to his body, on Gaia, with new memories mixing with his old ones, and a quite disturbing solution within his head.

* * *

_Aeris… I will come for you. Everything just turned different, but I will find a way. _

_Wait for me._

_Your wish… to be with me… I… I… _

_I will find a way, to grant you that wish. We'll be together. I promise. _

_Even… even if… No, I think it's too soon for that. _

_But… If I come back alive from this mission, I would like it to happen. I would like to…_

_I would like to spend more time with you, too. Even… even If that would mean that our relationship turned more serious. I just have a bad feeling. That I won't come back alive from this. _

_But it's just a bad feeling. Don't listen to me. I will be there for you. _

_And… what about your flowers? Are they selling well? _

_Well, I don't think that really matters now. I am not feeling alright. And my friend here is not ok too. After everything that happened on that day, I think the world will never be the same. Maybe I won't be the same too, Aeris. But I would really like to come back and see you again. Maybe I won't. Maybe I will. But if I come back, I would like to be with you forever. You really made me happy, since the day we met. _

_If I come back, I want to share all my life with you, forever and ever. Sorry for making you wait so long. For making you lose hope. Now that I am no longer near you, I realized how important you are for me. Aeris, if I come back…_

_Aeris, if I come back… would you mar--_

Aeris woke up suddenly. Tears were running down her cheeks and she was so shocked that she was hardly breathing.

All that time she waited for Zack he had been thinking of her. He had been thinking of their future together when he came back to Midgar. Zack had been thinking about her all that time.

That was no ordinary dream. In fact, that wasn't even a dream. It was purely a vision. I heartbreaking vision, better, a _voice_. Zack's voice. Trying to reach her, when he was in Nibelheim. He died on his way home, weak and badly damaged, trying to spend his entire life with her. When he fought in battle, it was for her. To be forever by her side.

_All good things must come to an end, Aeris._

_No, _she thought, _no mother, not everything must come to an end. There should be things that would last for eternity, and love should be one of them. My love for Zack shouldn't die. _

_It didn't died_, said a voice inside her head_, Zack was the one who died. Not your love for him. Your love can be stronger than life and death itself. You can destruct the barriers that keep death and life separated. Zack knows that you love him. Somewhere, he listens to your prayers and to your wishes. Somewhere, he's smiling at you and knowing that you kept on loving him until his death. _

The brunette hugged herself in the darkness of the room. A little ray of light was already annunciating the sun, but that didn't lighted Aeris' heart. She was whimpering silently, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably, little snobs escaping from her lips.

She wasn't aware of Sephiroth's eyes, watching her silently.

He was listening to her, with a somewhat amused expression set across his face. The girl couldn't be poisonous. The girl couldn't be against him. And those weren't fake tears. Although her escaping innocence, we wouldn't risk at the point of comforting her. Even if had talked to her a lot over those months, inside the lifestream, he was not sure of her purity. As mother said, everything could be a disguise, a disguise to allure him to stop with his plans.

However, he was finding sympathy in that girl. The last night, she had been talking about her fear of the sky. He thought amused, _what demon would lose its time talking about how much he feared the sky?_ And everything she said, and the way she puckered her lips. Everything was so _her. _Not a disguise. Aeris was _that_ way. Aeris was no demon. Aeris was just a pink clad girl, with the luck of having one of the most powerful materia on her hands.

And now, that one girl was crying silently in her bed, hugging herself, her brown hair cascading down her shoulders and back, shaping her fragile and shaking figure.

Without knowing what do to, Sephiroth rose from the bed, grabbed his boots and jacket and silently started to dress, trying to ignore her sobs.

After a while, he grabbed the hilt of Masamune and walked for the door, his steps sounding clear and decisive on the wood floor. Understanding the warning, Aeris lifted her head and looked at him.

"Are you going to leave me?" she asked. His eyes pierced her mercilessly, diving into her emerald color, trying to find reasons. An emotion; maybe a memory. He was reading all her thoughts, even if he didn't find anything that denunciated her tears. He only found loneliness and an immense shock.

He retreated and blinked. There was too much feelings within her for him to bear. He was not like that. There weren't many feelings inside his heart. Sometimes there was a profound wish for revenge, another times he felt something like hate, at the way the world treated him, like a war puppet, a hero without face. Basically, there was an enormous coldness, a shadow climbing over him, making him feel no regret, no love for the things that revolved around him. If he could not love the world, how could he cry and suffer for it?

But the girl had an immense love for Gaia and for the humans, and for the feelings they had within them. She loved the essence of the world, she loved its emotions. She wasn't ashamed to cry for them, or to smile for them. She was born like that.

"Why should I leave you?" he asked, taking a step back, not daring to touch her. He thought that if he touched her in that shape, he was going to _break her._

"You were going away. I… I am alright. Sometimes I have these sort of things, and I just start crying. Please forgive me." She forced a smile and started to dress her pink garment beneath the covers "do you wish to leave now?"

She rose and started to braid her hair. Sephiroth noticed how long she looked at the pink bow before tying her hair with the both pieces of cloth. Then, she took something inside her jacket pocket and put it between the two ribbons. Sephiroth just caught a glimpse of green light coming from it, and immediately he felt something tugging at his heart.

"Let's go" he said, opening the door.

_The Holy Materia._

* * *

They left the inn at midday, as planned. They walked east, as Sephiroth had said, across the plains. A little building in the far landscape stood up, with a big square fence, and something that looked like a barn. The Chocobo Farm.

The sun was hot above their heads. Aeris was sweating, only wearing her pink dress, after tossing her red jacket away. Sephiroth stayed with his cold posture, not removing his gloves, or his leather jacket. Aeris thought how he could stand the heat, just wearing leather and black.

They were silent all the way across the plains.

There was a million thoughts inside Aeris' head, mostly them of Zack and her vision of him and his voice. Did Zack even thought of marrying her, when he was on Nibelheim? Did Zack loved her that way? No, that couldn't be possible… Zack had been on the army… probably, there were tons of girls and women chasing him. He had a lot to pick… so why pick her?

If Zack hadn't died, and if Aeris had married him, what would life be?

Where would they live? Would they have children? Would Zack quit from the army? Would Aeris stop selling her flowers, or finding a job? What would life be?

_And_, she smiled,_ what would my mother think? What would Elmyra think…? _

Zack had been a great man; he had protected his honor and his dreams. Zack had been capable of loving, capable of making a family. Capable of making her happy. Her wish would come true. Neither would she pass more time with him, as she would pass the _rest of her life_ with him.

But he had died. Strangely, he had died, five years ago.

Suddenly, she stopped. Sephiroth stopped too, and looked at her.

Aeris smiled nervously.

"Sephiroth… what happened five years ago?"

He felt the fire burning his skin, and the columns of flames towering over him. A voice inside his head, dark and alluring. The screams of a girl, running at him, with his own sword in her thin grasp. He remembered the way he cut her skin, the blood covering her delicate body. He then felt something slicing his stomach, iron on his flesh, blood trailing down his body. Then he dived into the green lights, into an endless stream, and felt all the wisdom around him.

…_Five years ago…. _

* * *

_**Author's notes: **__Review please. _


	7. Monsters

_**Author's notes: **__Review aka "please tell me what you think" AUish_

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own anyone. _

* * *

Hidden Weakness

_**Chapter 6 --- Monsters **_

…_five years ago?... _

The fire died and the green stream faded away, slipping from his mind and into the emptiness.

"Nothing happened " he stated, obviously disturbed. His head fell and he let his locks of silver hair cover his eyes.

Aeris nervously. "Please, Sephiroth, tell me what happened that day. I… I know _you _know. Please tell me."

"You don't have to know anything!"

Aeris backed away. His voice was filling with anger. His fingers were tingling slightly, his eyes were uncontrollably bright. There was anger and pain within them, as well as… sorrow?

The brunette was shocked, seeing his reaction. What really happened in Nibelheim? What was the secret behind all things that happened five years ago? Why was the general losing his control to the mention of the incident?  
"I am sorry. Please forgive me. I would like to know because I lost someone dear that was evolved in the case."

That caught Sephiroth attention. Stopping on his tracks, he looked at the girl intently, trying to capture all the emotions in her eyes.

"What that person's name? " he asked, evasively.

Aeris expression fell for moments. She opened her mouth, as if trying to talk, however, no sound escaped her lips. Sephiroth swore he saw a wall of tears on her eyes.

"…Z-Zack."

The next thing that happened was so fast that Aeris didn't have a moment to react. He grabbed her by her red jacket, pinned her to a close tree, and started to talk, with a polite distance from her. The first thing that appeared on his face was a disturbed grin, and then, very slowly, his grin changed to an devilish expression.

"That did you just said?" he whispered. "Zack? _Zack_?"

Aeris nodded, her eyes widening. "Y-Yes. His name was Zack. Zack Fair. "

Sephiroth brought his hand to the sword on his hip. His fingers reached the hilt of Masamune, and twitched slowly around it. Jade eyes were burning with anger, and a distant memory was filling his soul. Aeris, pinned to the tree, was trembling, her lungs barely reaching for air because of the general's grip.

"You knew that man?"

"I-I… He was my friend."

Sephiroth looked at the floor. Mist was fogging his eyes; all nightmares were coming again to his mind, vivid and bright. Melancholic voices started to ringing in his ears, spanking his sanity, slapping his sense, making everything go away…

"Sephiroth, you're hurting me. Please let me go…"

He became aware of what he was doing and loosened the grip on her jacket. Aeris fell to the ground, embracing herself, a lonely tear shining solemnly in the corner of her eye.

"What happened five years ago… is none of your business." He whispered, turning his back on her. "You have nothing to do with it. If a… _friend _of yours died… you can do nothing do get him back. Just pray to his soul and nothing more. Spirits should not be molested with superficial concerns."

"I want to know, Sephiroth, because I loved him. It is part of me to know what happened to a beloved one. Of course it's of my concern. Zack was my friend; a very special friend. Do you know what that means, Sephiroth?"

"The man died." Said Sephiroth, calmly. He had no emotion on his voice "You already knew he had, didn't you? Why do you want to know the details of his death? Do you want to be stalked by his ghosts?"

"Of course not! I want to know… because I need to! I need to know what he did to deserve death! I _have_ to know_. _I have to rest, Sephiroth. And I can't rest until I know the reasons of his death. Like part of me was the cause of it."

The silver-haired man shook his head. The corners of his lips lift up, in a sarcastic smile. "You weren't the cause of his death, don't worry."

"What if I am? I didn't support him in the time he needed the most. I didn't heal the wounds when he was in life danger. Five years ago, I just sat on the floor of my church waiting for him to come back, without knowing what he had been through."

"I don't know how he died." There was a strange tone in Sephiroth's voice. "I don't know. Be content with that answer."

Aeris embraced herself again, trembling against the wind. A cold silence fell between the two of them. Sephiroth couldn't talk, neither as Aeris. Although, the girl was shocked by the general's reaction to the question, she did not fear him. It was with the feeling of courage pounding inside her chest that she raised and brushed the dirt off of her dress. Raising her chin to meet his eyes, she stated:

"I am aware that you know the causes of his death, Sephiroth. Someday, you'll tell. I am sure Zack died protecting his honor and dreams, just like he said he would. You won't hide the truth for very long: I won't rest until I know it".

And reuniting her belongings, she was off the road, not even waiting for her companion to follow her.

* * *

After that conversation, Aeris and Sephiroth haven't talked much. Actually, none of them opened their mouths.

Without the sight of a inn, with the Chocobo Farm still far away, both of them stopped for the night under an enormous tree, isolated in the middle of the plains.

Aeris sat with her back to the tree, and Sephiroth immediately did the same, but on the other side. Only separated by the trunk, the two companions focused their thoughts on the common things of Nature. Aeris was humming softly, trying to remember a song she had lost from her childhood.

On his turn, Sephiroth was playing with a fallen leaf from the tree, rotating it between his fingers. Although his expression was calm, within his mind he was fighting very disturbing presences. _Not now,_ he thought_, not now, please…_

_Don't try to ignore the voices. They express the true feelings you had for the war and everything else you've done. Although you were the general of ShinRa, that doesn't say you're immune to guiltiness and shame. Protect your dreams and honor. You won't be forgiven before you try._

…Angeal…?

"_Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul._

_Pride is lost. _

_Wings stripped away._

_The end is nigh._

_Such is the fate of a monster. "_

Sephiroth barely smiled to the voice. _A monster. _That was his cruel truth. A monster without soul or heart, without pride or wings. There was no honor for him to protect. There were no dreams for him to pursue. _Yes, Genesis… I am a monster._

"_My soul, corrupted by vengeance_

_Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey_

_In my own salvation_

_And your eternal slumber"._

_Sephiroth… _

"_Can I still hear the voices of my friends…?"_

_Sephiroth?_

"_Does it mean my mind is not totally torn off?"_

_Sephiroth, listen._

"_Am I still hum-"_

"Sephiroth! What's happening?"

Aeris was crawling next to him, holding his forearm with a tight grasp, her eyes emanating preoccupation. "What happened?"

The silver-haired man freed his arm of her hand without a word. "Nothing. Nothing happened. What do you mean by something happened? Leave me alone. "

Aeris' eyes lay on the ground. "Sometimes the voices we listen don't want us to listen to them forever. They just want attention. And when you change because of them they'll leave you alone. Sometimes they know that there's something you didn't do before, sometimes they won't leave you for your own good."  
"Why are you telling me that?

"Because whatever is bothering you is inside your head. And I know, as a Cetra, how real a voice inside our mind can be. I know what they want from us, Sephiroth. They were part of my life since I was born."

"I don't need your advice. The only thing I need is peace and to be alone. I have to reunite my thoughts. "

Aeris chuckled. "Do you want to be forgiven?"

Sephiroth's eyes shoot in her direction "What?"

"I am asking if you want to be forgiven, Sephiroth. I am asking if you want to redeem for your sins."

"I…"

Aeris interrupted him. "If you want to be forgiven, by whoever it is, I'll tell you something: probably those people already forgave you. Now it's the time for you to forgive yourself, don't you think?"

He didn't say a word. She knew him too well. Too well for his tastes.

* * *

_**Author's notes: **__Review please. Thanks. _


	8. Childish Wishes

_**Author's notes: **__Review please! AUish_

_**Disclaimer: **__Sephiroth, Aeris and this world doesn't belong to me, but to SquareEnix. _

* * *

Hidden Weakness

_**Chapter 7 --- Childish Wishes**_

"What do you see?" asked Sephiroth, when both of the travelers climbed up a cliff.

Aeris brought a hand to her forehead and looked at the fire colored sun, which started to disappear in the horizon.

"Well, I see the sun. " she answered absently.

"I see a vision of hell" he stated "the fire is consuming everyone and everything, but I do not fear it. I laugh in its face, because we, Cetra, have the power to turn this living hell into the heavens of Promised Land. ".

Aeris didn't even look at him. She already knew what was the look of pain on his face.

"Do you think that Promised Land is a land where darkness does not exist? Do you think it's a world of light and truth, where sins are just nightmares of its inhabitants?"

Sephiroth looked at the brunette. His glowing eyes were fixated in hers, piercing her thoughts into small pieces.

"It's good to have some dreams about the afterlife" he justified, starting to descend the cliff.

Aeris followed him, clasping her hands in front of her. Sephiroth, ShinRa's hero and general was getting darker thoughts as day turned into twilight. Since she first met him, in the small house in Midgar's slums, the man was becoming rather strange, sometimes having bad dreams at night, growling and sweating in his bed. Another times, when the pink-clad girl was talking to him, his eyes just turned into emptiness and he fixated in somewhere else, far away from their world. Aeris wouldn't get angry at his distractions, because she, too, was having nightmares with the man. He would eventually be gravely wounded in battle, whimpering in pain at her feet, screaming. The girl didn't know what was the message the planet was trying to pass to her, but it was something important. Sephiroth was a man, which big secret was lying within his soul. And Aeris thought, horrified, that _maybe_, that secret would die with him.

But her dreams were becoming more and more real. More pain was flowing from the vision of the man whimpering with pain in the middle of a dark plain, surrounded with tiny specks of white light. _Maybe stars._

And then, grabbing his wound, on his chest_, or maybe in his heart_, Sephiroth would scream.

_There's nothing more terrifying than hear the scream of a mute man. _

That was something Sephiroth told her one day, as they were walking in the silent plains, trying to reach the Chocobo Farm. _Well, he isn't mute_, she thought, amused, _but his voice is so silent and quiet that it feels like he's talking inside my head, where his words come right to my mind, and to my heart. _

As she was thinking, Sephiroth's eyes swept over the hills and the plains. He could not see anything that would disturb their peace. Only the barn that was coming closer and closer in the distance. It was with delight that he thought how lucky they were to sleep in a good, comfy bed, at least, after a whole week sleeping in the cold and humid ground.

But had the girl the ability to see his thoughts or his feelings? He could not answer that anymore. The materia wrapped in her hair, tied with both of the bows, was getting more powerful each day that passed. Sephiroth did not know why was that happening. Did that ever-grown energy come from outside sources, or from within sources? Was the white materia becoming more powerful each day that passed because the brunette's heart was in rejoice, or was it because the white materia had any connection with the outside? Another materia? The body of a buried ancient? A sacred place for the Cetra, maybe?

_She understands the hearts of those who suffer,_ he told himself.

Looking at the girl, he could not see her power. She was subtle, yet striking to the eye, in her pink dress and long dark braid. Why did the ancients choose a so _picturesque_ girl to hold the white materia on her hands?

_On her hair_, he suddenly remembered with a slight tug at the corners of his lips.

* * *

After a couple of days, they had reached the Chocobo Farm, with a sigh of relief. Finally they could spend a night in comfort.

"They're so cute, Sephiroth." Aeris said, reaching her tiny hand to the head of the Chocobo that was looking at her.

"…They are?"

"Of course they are!" Aeris exclaimed, looking back at him.

The Chocobo made a "wark!" when she started to rub the top of his head. Sephiroth looked at them like if they were both --- Aeris and the Chocobo --- creatures from another planet, or galaxy.

"Are we getting one?"

"No" he answered coldly "I don't trust any creature that guides me. Those beasts don't receive almost any control and they can lead you into a trap. I prefer to be guided by my own feet, if you don't mind, of course. "

The brunette puckered her lips.

"Why do you think everyone and everything is untrustworthy?" she murmured, looking away.

"Because I have the reasons. Quite the _good_ reasons. Many things happened in the past and they are happening right now, as you rub that creature's head. They can be either good, or bad, but they affect the ones around them. You have to understand that not everything is explainable, and that there are things that _are_ explainable, but don't want to be explained. Do you understand now?"

"Should I?"

"Yes you should. And now you're pushing the conversation further than I wished to, so _please_, be quite, because I know you understood."

Their conversation was quite odd, being seen from the interior of the barn. That was what was thinking Choco Bill, the owner of the barn, seeing the pink-clad young girl and the high silver-haired man. Looking back at the man, he could remember something, but what was it? He could not say.

"Hey, miss and mister! Do you want to buy a Chocobo to help you on your journey?"

"No."

_That's Sephiroth's answer for everything, _Aeris thought, crossing her arms.

Choco Billy made a gesture with his head.

"No, no, no, no." he said, shaking his head "You can't pass the marshes without a Chocobo. Midgar Zolom is there, more hungry then he never was. You need to be fast and quick to capture the other side of the marshes, near the Mythril Mines. The Chocobo can guide you safely into the other side, running without being tired. It is the best thing you could ever buy, believe me, young mister."

"There's a monster out there." Aeris said, looking at her companion. "Do you wish to be eaten because of your stubborn attitude?"

"You'll do as I say when we travel together. No creature will carry me somewhere like a sack of potatoes. Keep that idea out of your head and leave comments for what really matters. I don't have patience for your childish wishes."

_Aeris looked at her new flower wagon. She frowned._

"_Not quite… what I had expected."_

"_Really? I think it's fine. It's all about the flowers, anyway." Zack said._

"_I want a nice one." _

"_Stop being so picky!"_

"… _a tiny little wish, that's all."_

"_They're tiny, but you have lots, right?"_

"_That's right! Wanna hear?"_

_She counted by the fingers._

"_Hm.. twenty… three?"_

_Zack awed. _

"_Hm. Write them down, so I want forget."_

"I am not childish. Or picky." She said with tears on her eyes. "Maybe I have a lot of wishes, but not any single of them was conceded. Maybe I have the right to see a wish came true, don't you think? I have the right to be happy. I am not childish. I am _not _childish."

"You're making the girl cry, mister" Choco Bill took the opportunity to say. "What if you conceded her wish and bought her a Chocobo?"

Sephiroth sent daggers at the man.

"I am not going to buy a Chocobo. Beat it already. And I thought I wanted to stay for the night but with so much eloquence coming from you, I think I will have some bad dreams with a picky man running after me, holding a Chocobo."

The farmer raised his hands in defeat. He didn't look mad at Sephiroth's statement.

"Alright. But be careful out there. Care to say your name?"

"That's none of your business." Sephiroth said.

Aeris looked away, embarrassed by the general's answer to the man. Sephiroth wasn't a nice man, that was something she made out clearly after spending a week with him. Sephiroth wanted to keep himself away from the _crowd._ He didn't want to be like the other humans, common, ingenious or dumb. The silver-haired man wanted to portray all the beauty and wisdom of the Cetra, by keeping himself distant from other, a role-model, a hero, a _god._

Even if she met him in the Lifestream, hearing his soul and not his cold voice, she could see the darkness wandering in his silver heart. Only inside her head she could see him pleading for mercy, for life, for forgiveness. The man, who had probably never known love or affection, could never be lowering himself to the level of other humans. He wanted to feel himself superior, above from all other living beings, by standing in an arrogant, sarcastic attitude. Sephiroth had seen pain, and suffering. Bloodshed; men dying in front of him; the last gasps of his companions, mortally wounded in battle. With so much death, how could a man think that life could be generous at any point?

The man was oblivious to her thoughts, of course.

However, when Sephiroth was about to leave the farm, somewhat mad at the girl's interpretation of his last statement, he felt a pang in his head, and he _froze._

_The enemy is coming in your direction, my son. Find a distraction. Make the distance bigger. No one can defeat the beast in the marshes, but you can. The farmer has materia that can make anyone catch the wild creatures, but capturing one of them takes its time. Be smart, my son, think. If you find the wrong answer, you may be crushed into small pieces._

_I cannot be crushed, mother. I will stand my ground even if you commit wrong predictions about my future. _

_Do not underestimate your enemy. A bird may fly, but he will not stand in the air for the rest of his life. The same for your glory. The prize of your power will be over once one champions rises, my son. _

…_You're talking in riddles._

_You are the one who's _thinking_ in riddles. _

"Wait" he said, turning himself to the farmer. Sephiroth took something out of his pocket. It was a heavy sack, wrapped with a red bow.

"I want to buy _all _the chocobos in this farm." He stated.

Aeris turned to her companion, shocked. However, there was a tiny glimpse of light in her eyes. Hope.

"I buy all of them, but I will leave _all of them_ here, for you to care. Don't sell them to anyone else, feed them, and care for them. If an egg hatches, don't put the Chocobo to sell, and release is in the wild. These is my request in change for this money."

Choco Bill took the sack from the man's hands. He opened it, and looked into its interior. An awed expression was set across his features.

"This is too much money. I don't need all of this." The humble farmer said.

"I give it all to you if you follow my requests. If you disobey to my orders, start to think of your life business disappearing under flames."

"Why are you doing this?" Aeris asked, surprised and confused.

"It's nothing of your concern." His eyes roamed over the girl's face. "Now let's leave to find a good spot before the sun sets."

And they left.

_Good work, my son._

Sephiroth almost smiled at the statement.

* * *

Cloud, Tifa, Barret and the new group member, Red XIII, an enormous cat-like creature, reached the Chocobo Farm. The chocobos started to wark with the vision of the group coming to the farm. With the effect, a poorly dressed man came out of the barn, which was painted with a big Chocobo picture. He waved.

"Good day, lady and gentlemen. And your pet is quite adorable."

Red XIII looked fiercely at the man.

"Thinking of crossing the marshes?" Choco Bill said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Yes" Cloud answered.

"Hmm, then it'll probably be safer for you to get a Chocobo. That way you can zip through the marshes with the Chocobo. It's the only way to avoid being attacked by the Midgar Zolom."

"Midgar Zolom? Is that a monster?" asked Tifa.

"It's a serpent-like creature over 30 feet tall!" informed Choco Bill, nodding furiously. "It picks up footsteps that enter the marshes, and then BAM!!, it attacks."

Of course Choco Bill was preferring these costumers. He was still shocked by the large amount of money the silver-haired man gave him earlier. Keeping the coins in his pocket, there was a large smile across his face as he talked to the small group of travelers. He would make them think he still had any chocobos, to persuade them at buying the materia to catch the wild ones. After all, business was business, and money was never enough.

"I'll call my son, if you don't mind" he said, turning to the door.

About one minute later, he appeared with a young boy at his side. The boy was chewing something, and had a large hat on the top of his head.

"Choco Billy, this gentleman would like to have a Chocobo."

The young boy turned to Cloud.

"You old folks are out of luck!"

Barret made an angry face. "Old folks?!"

"We're all out of chocobos. I'm taking care of those ones out there for someone else."

Choco Bill made his turn.

"But, you know, if you really want a Chocobo you should go out and catch one. You see those claws prints out there? Wild chocobo's will appear in those areas. But, if you don't have a 'Chocobo Lure', they won't come out. 'Chocobo Lure' is type of materia which attracts chocobos. If you equip this, they'll come to you, but, without it, they won't appear."

Cloud rolled his eyes and looked at his companions. Tifa nodded slightly.

"We want that materia" Cloud demanded. "How much?"

"2000 gil, if you don't mind. It wouldn't hurt buying some greens, too."

Cloud rolled his eyes again.

"Whatever, we'll take it."

"Wait!" Choco Bill said, grabbing the blonde's arm. Cloud grunted and retired his arms brusquely.

"What?" impatience was written in the leader's voice.

"By the way, there was another person leading towards the marshes. He had a girl with him. Without a Chocobo, the Midgar Zolom probably got them. He was a man in a black cape."

Cloud looked at Tifa, frowning.

_It's him._

* * *

_**Author's notes: **__If the dialogue with cloud and Choco Bill sounds a little bit déjà vu, guess what… I have been reading the script of the game… Just trying to alternate the story enough to make the same plot with some twists with it, especially the fact that Cloud and Aeris haven't met like in the original way._

_Many thanks to my reviewers! :D_

_~Ravenswan32_


	9. Mythril

_**Author's notes: **__Review please. Happy New Year, everyone! :D As always, feedback is appreciated._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own the plot. _

* * *

Hidden Weakness

_**Chapter 8 --- Mythril**_

She slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a tiny light, silvery and white. Although it looked like a tiny star, so distant – similar to the ones she would see on the huge night sky – Aeris would swear she was able to touch it. However, she was forced into reality when she felt someone hit her on her arm. Rising on her elbows, she gasped for air, trying to discover the identity of her aggressor. She only did that to find Sephiroth, sitting on a rock, a slightly worried look on his face.

The brunette's mind started to work furiously as she started to recall the previous day events. She only remembered a huge shadow on the ground, bigger than anything else she could imagine, and then, the sound of metal cutting flesh.

All of a sudden, she remembered the ex-general impaling the enormous serpent into a tree. Her stomach ached furiously as she quickly crawled behind a rock, grabbing her belly with both hands.

Sephiroth knelt next to her.

"How are you feeling?"

"I can't bear it. I never saw so much blood and a such horrific monster in all my life."

"You fainted after the battle was over."

"As if that would be a surprise. You impaled a monster, Sephiroth. The blood was so much… I can't stand thinking about it."

"Are you that sensible about mundane things? I thought that your _spiritual_ experience was far away from that simplicity of yours."

Aeris looked insulted. "I can't change the fact that I am still half-human and inexperienced in the battlefield. You can't do anything about it."

Sephiroth chuckled darkly "You'll be a burden in our trip, then. If you faint every time you see a monster, I'll probably have to stop and wait for you to wake, over and over."

Aeris rose on her feet "You shouldn't have brought me with you, then."

"Is that your conclusion?."

"The obvious one, at least."

Sephiroth shook his head in disbelief. "Being childish again? Can't stand blood? Aren't you ashamed to be a grown-up woman and say such a thing?"

"There are men out there that should be ashamed for their sins and they don't even regret them. I don't think I should be ashamed for such a tiny little thing."

Aeris took then the opportunity to search her surroundings. They were in a cave made of dark rock. If the little speck of light she saw when she was awaking amazed her, more amazed she was as she understood that the whole place was filled with it. The silvery light was spread in the cave's walls like silver pellicle. It looked slippery, but solid too.

"Mythril." Sephiroth answered her inner question. "A strong material, used for weapons and armor. Miners left the mine saying it was haunted, and filled with monsters. After that, the prize of the material rose incredibly and it's hard to find. Even if you find it in a shop, probably you won't have the money to pay for it."

Aeris nodded, caressing the walls with her smooth hands. The material looked solid, but when in touch with the skin, it was almost watery, and smooth like silk. Aeris wondered how many the secrets on Gaia were. For her, the Mythril was one of them.

"We'll have to walk through these mines if we want to get to the other side of the mountains. Then, into Junon."

The episode they both shared in the cave was quickly forgotten and they found themselves worrying about the way they would find the exit of the mine.

Actually, Aeris was the one worrying. All the hallways of the mines seemed similar and she could not find anything that would mark their position. However, Sephiroth walked confidently, his eyes facing the complex labyrinth, as if he knew, on the inside, the way to get out of there. They barely stopped in their way. Sephiroth was harsh about resting and Aeris feet were protesting from the constant exercise. If the girl had loved the sparkles on the walls, now she was sick of it.

Aeris would be filled with joy if she saw the sun. As she walked beside the silver-haired warrior, she thought of his decisions back at the Chocobo Farm. She hadn't questioned him about the motives of his behavior, waiting a bitter answer in exchange. However, the curiosity was too great for her to ignore, and she found herself constantly thinking about the episode. The first answer that got into her mind was the fact that he wanted, perhaps, to make her angry. After all the talk about spoiled wishes, Aeris thought Sephiroth would prepare a little revenge for her. But justifying his behavior with her own was even a more childish act, and she bashed away the thought. Another conclusion framed within her mind.

_Don't sell them to anyone else_, he had said. Aeris started to think that the man didn't want anyone else to have a Chocobo by the easy way, and, with such effects, slow their progress through the marshes and the mines. The girl understood that the man was being followed, and that was the mystery of his hurried actions. Would it be death if there was a delay? Would be blood, dripping from their bodies like the blood she faintly saw from the Zolom's dead body?

She stopped on her tracks when she heard a loud _pang_ and a curse somewhere, beside them, obviously a male's voice. The man by her side stopped too, and his eyes were taken by a sudden rage that made Aeris' heart skip a beat. Another voice was heard, this one from a female. Footsteps were getting closer.

The girl didn't almost felt the grip of Sephiroth's hand on her wrist. When she did, she was already running, being pulled by the man into the hallways of the mines. Well, that couldn't be called _running_. She was almost flying, barely feeling the ground under her feet. She wondered, amused, how could a mortal, even if Cetra, run so fast. The man was surely everything they told about him. The power, the greatness, the glory. They were all printed on that man's body.

"S-Stop it, please!" the brunette pleaded. Her voice wasn't even a sound compared to the noise of the wind that was blowing in her ears. "I can't take it anymore!"

"Just a little bit" he assured "And we'll be out of here".

The first impact she felt was shock, spreading through her body. She almost fell to the ground, so big was the speed of the man that pulled her.

However, when she steadied her running, her _fleeting,_ above the floor secured by that man's grip…

…She found herself in total _bliss_, and for moments, she thought it would be _everlasting._

The time completely stopped around her. The cave walls around her turned silver, like the color of the Mythril that faintly covered it, an alien light coming out from the very inside of the cave. The foundations of the earth were moving and showing their greatness and glory to her. Sephiroth looked like a shadow of that glory, his silver hair flying around him like a pool of liquid silver, his eyes, jade mirrors of an endless abyss, that fought a sorrow he could not admit. He wasn't aware. Only Aeris could see the light.

_Slow motion._

_A song, sang by the most beautiful voices, coming from the most inner part of the planet. _

As both of them were slowing down because of the girl's lack of resistance, Sephiroth's hand gracefully lost the grip on her wrist and circled her waist, giving both of them more speed in relation to their chasers.

Gaia was singing within her heart, more light coming to blind her, from under her feet, from above her head.

At the heart of Gaia, inside the own planet, all things were graceful and portrayed the nature of the first ages of the world. Aeris knew that the Lifestream was only the blood of the planet she lived in; the true grace of Gaia was within its foundations, within the light whose the Cetra shaped the world. Her connections to the lifestream were unimportant in that moment; there was such greatness in that scenery that the mind flow she always kept with the planet seemed absurd. She has always thought communicating with the lifestream was a _gift._ But the power that bestowed in front of her eyes couldn't be ignored.

_A vision of light, and hope._

The Planet was showing an hidden power to her.

And it contained a message, that she could not decipher yet.

* * *

Light spread before her eyes when the sun emerged.

She fell to the ground, exhausted, but a resistant arm pulled her apart from the cave's entrance and tried to hid both of the figures into the bushes.

Laying in the floor, on her back, Aeris gasped for air, holding on to life. It was only after a while that she felt that her hair was loose, covering her small, frame, delicate curls cascading on her shoulders, covering her forehead covered in sweat.

Her first motion was to reach the back of her head, trying to touch the bows that kept her hair safe.

_She found nothing._

Slowly opening her eyes, she found two strong arms in each side of her haid, palms on the floor. She could hear and feel his breath, gently caressing her face. His words were slow, but she felt anger in them.

"What did you see back in the cave?"

Aeris grabbed her chest, like if it was impossible to breath. "Light. Music. Hope. The planet's past and future. A secret, hidden in its depths."

When she caught a glimpse of his eyes, she saw that those jade mirrors were fixed on both of her bows, the blue and the pink one, laying on the ground, next to his arm. His eyes were specifically focused on something green between them. The White Materia was glowing, answering to the Planet's calling, singing back, and shining back. She looked again at the man that kept her on the floor; silver strands of hair were mixing with her chestnut, darker hair. His eyes held a darker shadow of the color of her eyes. His face, gracing the features of an angel, was full of anger, and sorrow.

She could then see.

_We're halves of the same coin. Even if he's a shadow, he's a white shadow. Even if I am a light, I am a dark light. The Planet knows no better. _

_That's the message. _

_That's the riddle. _

_Our futures will be forever intertwined, within laws of life, or death. The Planet wants me to look at Sephiroth. He wants me to repair what he has destroyed. However, in the most discreet way, the man whose actions I will repair, will influence the actions that will make me repair his acts. He'll be the one who will help me climb a tower with endless stairs. I will purify his acts, and he'll corrupt my heart. _

_He'll be black, and I'll be white, and as we act together, both of us will be grey._

_Two persons that make part of an eternal cycle. _

_That's my future, and his. _

* * *

_**Author's notes: **__Kinda weird, this chappie…_ _Well, my mood varies… being reading Celtic books… this is the result of an obsessive reading of Ireland legends. XD_

_Even so… tell me what you think._

_~ravenswan32_


	10. A Change in the Air

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* * *

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**Author's notes: **_So, after my weird last chapter...ahem. Don't forget to review. This chapter and probably the following ones will have CloudxTifa hints. Hope you'll enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own the plot. _

* * *

Hidden Weakness

_**Chapter 9 --- A Change in the Air**_

"They have ran" Cloud said as the sun shone above his head. At his side, Tifa looked at the plains and the dark green spots in it that were the forests, dense, dark and dangerous.

"They ran into Junon" said Red XIII. "Sephiroth wants to capture the boat and cross the ocean. I don't know what his objective is, but it's probably fixed somewhere in the other continent. There are secrets everywhere on Gaia, related to the ancient tribes, like mine, that long ago dwelled on these lands."

"He sure runs fast" added Barrett, scratching the back of his head. "But I bet we can catch up to him in no time."

"Sephiroth is a powerful man" said Cloud "We have to be cautious. We don't know his plans and don't know what forces are behind his acts. His goddess may fall on us if we aren't careful on this matter. Every step we make needs to be thought of."

"We'll have to cross the plains" remembered Tifa "that will take too long. If Sephiroth keeps up its pace we'll certainly lose him."

"He won't keep up his pace" assured Red XIII "he can be powerful, but his energy isn't unceasing. But we need to go quickly. He is in great advantage in relation to us."

Cloud's eyes met Tifa's. Something rose inside of him. He didn't know what it was – concern, anguish, a solid friendship or the thought of a broken promise._ Come save me when I am in a pinch._ He was feeling he was guiding her to the danger, to his most loathed enemy, whose he share more hatred than to anything else. And by his side, Tifa was walking, firmly and convincingly, never leading her eyes down, never showing signs of tiredness, concern or redemption. She was by his side until the end, following him on his selfish quest for revenge.

The leader frowned at the strange connection they both shared and started to trail down the hills, the line of the horizon written on his pupils, a face printed in his mind.

* * *

Aeris was dreaming.

_We're halves of the same coin. Even if he's a shadow, he's a white shadow. Even if I am a light, I am a dark light. The Planet knows no better. _

_That's the message. _

_That's the riddle. _

_Our futures will be forever intertwined, within laws of life, or death. The Planet wants me to look at Sephiroth. He wants me to repair what he has destroyed. However, in the most discreet way, the man whose actions I will repair, will influence the actions that will make me repair his acts. He'll be the one who will help me climb a tower with endless stairs. I will purify his acts, and he'll corrupt my heart. _

_He'll be black, and I'll be white, and as we act together, both of us will be grey._

_Two persons that make part of an eternal cycle. _

_That's my future, and his. _

Those were the words that Aeris dreamed of. Words that she spoke within her mind not long ago; when both darkness and light collided and she fell into an empty dream, a vast space where she drifted in an endless vision, where voices sang, voices without face or singer or speaker.

A strong bond had united both the brunette and the silver-haired warrior. How had that bond formed between the two of them? She didn't know. All she knew was that a past memory, a foreigner piece of a distant recordation was forged deep within her, a piece of dark moments that involved a war, a betrayal, losses, sadness, tears and a hidden truth. And that same sensation rose inside her when she met Sephiroth's eyes.

The ocean was rocking the ship and Aeris was following its moves, crawled at a corner of the ship, hidden behind some crates. Covered with a blanket, her head was hanging loose as she heard footsteps resounding over the pavement of the ship. Her eyes were flickering at the movement of Sephiroth shadow, as he sneaked by the soldiers and inspected the general movements of the patrolling guard. As the brunette's eyes wandered from soldier to soldier, she inwardly assumed that the ShinRa militia was mostly composed of bizarre men, with the most lunatic expressions on their mortified faces, clinging on to life with that worthless job, that unrewarding career that promised dozens of complications for the time being. She wondered what the lives of those men were. Were they married, with a home in the streets of Midgar, with a bunch of children or was their life based on the ShinRa politics, involuntarily involving their personal lives?

She stretched her neck trying to see more of that melancholic scenery. Her hands grabbed the border of a crate and she started to roam between the cargo carried in the ship. The air smelled at salt and fish. As she moved slowly in the shadows, soldiers joined in casual conversations with technical terms about the ship maintenance that the young woman didn't understand. Everything looked dark and humid.

And for her surprise, on the other side of the hold, one of the soldiers turned to her, obviously aware of her presence behind the crates.

"What's that?" his voice sounded "Who is there?" Aeris tried in vain to hide herself but a patrol of soldiers descended the stairs from the deck and started to search quickly, coming in her direction. She silently cursed her curiosity and tried to look for an hiding-place, but a quick movement and a loud thud made her stop.

The girl felt a grabbing on her wrists and was quickly pulled towards large barrels on the back of the hold. She was being tightly hold by the waist. In silence, Sephiroth's arms circled her tiny little body, crushing her against the wall, his paused breath in her ear. A strand of hair fell miserably to Aeris face and Sephiroth moved behind her, crushing her in his arms, his chin grooved comfortably on the top of her head. Another strand of her fell to her face, but this one was from Sephiroth's mane, silver like moonlight and the most limpid star. His heart was tugging on her back, his muscles clenching, his chest raising and falling heavily from the hard breathing.

The patrol guards were just next to them, armed to the teeth, whispering between them. "Search that corner" said one of them "You, go to the deck securing the entrance of the hatchway and all of you go searching the back of the deck. Be sure to not let escape anything that moves and isn't wearing a ShinRa uniform."

"Do we make sound the alarm?"

"Not yet. They may make a distraction out of it."

Sephiroth's cloak was protecting the two of them. Dark like the blackest shadow, it was covering both of their bodies. Sephiroth let his hair fall to the inside of the cape, making the long strands fall over the brunette's shoulder over like a smooth blanket.

"Be clever and hold on to your life" he whispered to her ear when the soldiers moved to another part of the hold. "Let's go" and he guided her through the hold, sneaking past the soldiers, trough a secret passage Aeris knew the soldiers weren't even aware of.

"How did you find this exit?" Aeris asked as she entered the room and Sephiroth closed the door behind them.

"I wasn't just taking a stroll while you were down here".

They started to advance towards the center of the room. There was a platform above their heads, with two ladders from each side that leaded upwards. The metallic floor below their feet was creaking as they walked. Something moved in the center of the room.

"There you are!"

The man dressed with a red ShinRa uniform, obviously one of their army captains, raised a hand to a red button connected to a large amount of wires, and pressed the engine. The room was overflowing with the red light from the alarms as the alarm went off.

"Emergency alert! Reports of a suspicious character found! Those not on detail, search the ship. Report when found." The alarm echoed the same phrase as the captain of the army was pulling his gun.

Aeris' companion didn't think twice. Sephiroth unsheathed his sword, and with a swing, cut the body of the soldier in half.

Blood spilled before her and quickly flood towards her feet. Her stomach rolled in a cry as Sephiroth pulled her behind a crate. He muttered something under his breath, raised a finger to his lips and left the room, closing the door like a silent murderer, whispering in death steps. The alarm continued to sound.

"I repeat. Suspicious character found on board! Those not on detail, search the ship. Report when found!"

Aeris lowered her chin to her knees and enlaced her legs with her arms and stayed there in silent, blind in confusion with the lights of the red alarm and with the sound and the echo of the steps of the soldiers.

And she could feel Sephiroth's shadow and his overhelming presence.

* * *

Cloud and his group reunited at the deck of the ship after the alarm sounded. Barrett raised a palm to his forehead.

"Damn, did they find us? Hey that don't seem like us!"

The large man in the sailor suit turned to Cloud. The blond looked at his companions. Tifa in a soldier outfit, as well as Yuffie, in a sailor suit and Red XIII on his four legs chewing something he found on the floor.

"Everyone is all right?" asked Tifa.

"_You_ all right!?" it was Barrett turn to talk.

Tifa sighed in relief. She took her helmet and her dark hair fell to her shoulders. "Everyone's here…right?"

All of them went in silent and looked at each other, searching each other's faces with their eyes. Barrett's mouth opened up with utter surprise. "Hey wait."

Suddenly Cloud understood and his eyes opened in terror. Barrett continued his statement:

"You don't think that suspicious character is… Sephiroth!?"

Tifa's hand went to her mouth. "Really!?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know!?"

Cloud's eyes fell to the floor. His mako infused irises shone in-between strange memories that were flooding from his heart. "…Let's find out."

Red XII talked "It's the most logical thing to do. Then, who's going to go?"

"Me, Tifa and Barrett" chose the leader.

…_.Sephiroth…._

"…..Alright, let's go!"

* * *

The alarm stopped.

Aeris was hidden behind the wall when Sephiroth entered the room again. His clothes were covered in blood and some strands of hair were covered with it, shining in a reddish color. There were shades below his eyes and all over his skin and his eyes were shining more than never, with strange glimpses of darkness and light that remembered her the new connection between the two of them. He faced her and walked to the centre of the room.

The girl rose on her feet, alarmed, hearing more footsteps on the other side of the door. Seeing Sephiroth mercilessly walking to the middle of the room, she shout " What are you doing!? Let's get out of here, we are going to get caught! Both of us are in danger!"

The silver-haired man looked at her. His hair was falling to his face, his lips were parted and she could swear he was whispering slowly to a spirit.

"What are you doing? Let's go!"

But after she spoke those words, the door opened up and three figures entered the room. One of the men was tall, bulky and had a big gun crafted on his right arm and stood there with a huge frown on his face. Just by his side was a woman with long dark hair, raising her gloved hands in an attack position. But the only one that really caught her attention was the leader of the group.

There was nothing really special about the man. Tall and well built, with blonde spiky hair, he looked like any other man she knew, weren't two things that he possessed. One of them were the clothes we was wearing; the ones of a soldier, of a 1st class SOLDIER, the same clothes Zack wore when she was seeing him. The other thing was the shine in his eyes. His mako infused blue irises were flaming, falling apart when he fixed them on the ex-general that stood limpid in the centre of the room.

"Is it… Sephiroth?"

The general spoke but Aeris didn't recognize his voice. She took a step further but something in her consciousness made her stop. The foreigner group looked at her and the leader's eyes captured hers for mere seconds. Sephiroth talked, but his voice sound different... there was no soul in it.

"…After a long sleep…the time…has come…"

"Sephiroth!" the voice was from the blonde man "You're alive!"

Aeris looked at her companion. His strands of silver hair trembled as he moved his head. _Like a puppet being moved from a superior strength. _

"…Who are you?"

"You don't remember me!? I am Cloud!"

_Cloud_, Aeris muttered the word within her. The name was not strange, it was particularly recognizable from her memories. But whom did it belong to?

"Cloud…"

"Sephiroth! What are you thinking!? What are you doing!?"

"…the time…is now…"

"What are you saying!? Be more…"

The blond man looked again at the brunette and their eyes met again. She felt sucked on those mako pools and before she knew, she was seeing a light, a bright, shining light and everything blacked out.

The last thing she saw was Zack smiling at her.

* * *

_**Author's notes: **__It's actually very fun putting part of the script of the game into this fic… Don't know why, I just think it's fun, because I played the game and the writing and dialogue style is very different. Read and Review!_

_~ravenswan32_


	11. Her memories

_**Author's notes: **__Read & Review please! All comments appreciated! =D_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own the plot. _

* * *

Hidden Weakness

_**Chapter 10 --- Her Memories**_

"So, ever meet any SOLDIER members?" the brunette asked as they walked into the park.

"Maybe."

"Do you think that they're happy?"

Zack frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Heroes to children, protectors of the peace. But…they're not normal. They get some kind of special surgery, don't they?"

"…So they say."

Aeris bit her lip "Normal is best. I think so, at least. Those soldier people are kind of…weird."

Zack folded his arms across his chest "They're…weird, huh?"

The girl hesitated "And they're…scary. They fight…_and they love it."_

A moment passed by.

"Actually…I am with SOLDIER."

"…I am sorry!"

An awkward silence fell between them.

Suddenly Aeris let her eyes search the boy's face.

"So pretty…"

A cockish smile formed on Zack's lips "The face?"

The girl giggled "The eyes!"

"You like them? Then take a closer look."

Their eyes met.

"Eyes infused with mako energy: A SOLDIER trademark."

Aeris approached the young man, feeling as if she was being swallowed by those blue jewels.

"Oh you!" she exclaimed with a smile and pushed him joyfully.

"Color of the sky, right?"

"Mm-hmm…but… not scary at all!"

The smiles disappeared from their unworried faces.

"I'll admit it, things haven't been normal at all lately" Zack said, turning back. "But what about you Aeris? How's your life going?"

The brunette laughed. "I was thinking it would be a normal day, but then suddenly… Some guy fell out of the sky! "

"That's not all that bad!"

"Mm-hmm!"

Zack's phone rang. He reached to it. After a while he spoke again.

"I'm sorry, but duty calls. "

The girl hopelessly nodded. "Well, I guess I should get going then. Will I…see you again?"

"Of course!"

"…I hope that…your friend's okay, Zack."

"Huh?"

The girl blushed "You talk in your sleep."

The young man hesitated. "Yeah…it'll be fine. I know that now."

_Heroes to children, protectors of the peace. But…they're not normal…_

_You don't remember me?! I am Cloud!_

"_Sephiroth! What are you thinking!? What are you doing!?"_

…_they're not normal…_

_It'll be fine. I know that now._

…_the time…is now…_

_Is it…Sephiroth!_

_Heroes to children…_

_Thank you so much Aeris….I am Zack._

_Protectors of the peace. _

The world was dark before her eyes. All her memories were combined into one: a deep sorrow; not a memory, nor a sensation. The boy, Cloud, strangely reminded her of things that she thought locked within her heart forever: Zack's voice was clear as water, she could feel his warmth, his arms around her, protecting her in an embrace of devotion… A devotion only a man could have over a woman. A devotion like the one when two souls reunite forever by the fate's hand. But is it also fate that breaks these people apart?

There was something written in his eyes that made her heart pump in excitement, her stomach roll like she had butterflies in it, her mind twirl in a pure joy she long had lost. The last time she felt that way had been long ago, long before the crisis, when Zack was alive, protecting her from the jaws of death and suffering.

"_Am I clinging on to life?" _She thought absently "_Am I trying to remember Zack to make the loss lesser remarkable? Am I fooling myself?"_

Were Cloud's eyes, the color of the sky, that resembled Zack? And his determination-a determination his physique partially couldn't hold-was that ambition, that strength in his voice that remembered her of her long lost love?

Her eyes searched for movement and found the slow movement of Sephiroth's fingers patting on his knee, his face heavy under the tension and the stress of the escape from the ship where they crossed the ocean. They were spending a night in Costa del Sol, although far away from the beach where the tourists got sun baths, and walked at night, under the moonlight, holding hands with their lovers. Sephiroth was a man who knew what he wanted, and he was disposed to drag the girl to his endings, even if taking her freedom away was part of it.

The sand was cold and hard underneath Aeris. Burying her fingers in it, a soft shiver ran through her bones, clenching her heart with an unexpected thrill. The mixture of feelings, the coldness of the sand, the warmness of the thin air, the soft sound of Sephiroth's leather jacket as he moved…at night, the perception of moving objects around her increased, and she was absorbing all the sensations, like a sponge, getting all knowledge she could get.

When she turned her head, her eyes fell to the limpid surface of Sephiroth's sword. His long fingers were caressing the tilt, his thumb pressed again the thinnest part of the blade, the membrane of skin almost threatening to break weren't his leather gloves offering extra protection. The brunette found herself lost in numbers; how many creatures and humans did the ex-general killed with that lethal object? How many did he threaten, how many heads and members had been cut off by the movements of the gracious instrument? When the sword's carrier died, how many numbers were they? A hundred, a thousand? Why was that sculptural piece of metal so deathly? How could such beautiful object bring so much sorrow to the whole humanity?

The question stuck on the girl's throat was released.

"How many people did you kill with that blade, Sephiroth? How much sorrow did you bring to their lives?"

She was not expecting an answer, surely. After the words came out of her mouth she mused how strange that question could feel to a silent man. But surprisingly, the man parted his lips and the answer followed the movement.

"Many people died by my judgment. Many more did because of my lack of mercy. I don't have, however, any remorse for their losses because there are few who deserve to die by my hand. I just stopped the wounds to the planet. Humans are injuring Gaia each day that passes. Each human death is a mere second in the countdown of its cure."

"How can you say that?" Aeris whispered, shocked "Humans are the ones who are giving life to the planet! ShinRa is the cause of the destruction of Gaia, nor the people who obey to the organization. They seek mere comfort and protection because these traits can't be found anymore on the surface!"

"It's their lack of honor what consumes my heart the most" the man stated "The lack of honor the humanity possesses: humans know the planet won't live much longer like this. Even parents aren't disposed to fight against the organization to save their children's life. This is the world the next generations will live on: it will be a dark, empty, deserted place, where all the life has been sucked of the planet's veins. Men and women are too afraid to fight, even if that means to endanger their child's life".

"You fought for ShinRa too."

"The most despiteful thing I did in life."

"It was all you did in life."

She avoided his gaze. They fell in silence. There was only the sound of the waves crushing against the shore, dragging sand and rock with them.

"I had no choice" Sephiroth said after a while.

"Neither they do. They have no choice, nor power, or wisdom or strength. They're holding on to life, simply grabbing the chains of hope ShinRa gave them. They have no resources to fight. Most of them don't know how to raise a sword or a knife! ShinRa educated its people to be sure no one could stand against the organization. It's not their fault, it's not because their heart are evil: simply they have no other choice, no leader."

"I found my way. So should they."

"They have not your power, Sephiroth, nor your knowledge. A simple peasant has no resources to start an anti-ShinRa organization. Most of them are scared to lose their lives, their families and their houses. Their despair stops them to act by their head or by the means of what's right. They just want to be alive."

"Even if it's not their fault, people like this surely won't do a major favor in this crisis."

"They won't. But a small group of people with your sense of honor could. And I am faithful they are around there in the world."

She didn't realize until she felt it. Sephiroth's slender fingers reached her hands, taking them in his own, circling them with his warmth. The brunette's face lighted up due to is manly scent and the masculinity his figure emanated.

"Aeris" he paused after saying her name. Both of them heard a wave crashing into the rocks and sweetly sliding back to the ocean. "I don't need anyone to help me finish ShinRa off. I will do it by my own. Everything is planned, everything will be right."

"But for you, Sephiroth," she whispered "what's 'right'?"

The man's hands tensed and trembled slightly. The movement hadn't escaped her sense and view. "What do you fear so much, Sephiroth? Why are you holding on to the past?"

"It is the past my present and my future. It made me what I am now. I cannot refuse it. If I do, I will deny everything I am now".

Aeris felt something tugging her heart. Sephiroth's long eyelashes created a shadow in the surface of his eyes. Something heavy, a dark past maybe, a constant phantom, haunted those jade eyes. The girl felt the urge to cradle the man in her arms; was it fair that any man had to live a past that committed him to life?

"You can always change the present, Sephiroth" the squeeze she give to his hand was almost imperceptible "There are ways to change things that didn't depend on us. It's always time to hold on to a better life, to fight for happiness".

There was a change in the air. A shield of coldness suddenly covered his face and expression. His hand, between hers, tensed and clenched; the girl didn't remove her grasp and felt the muscles of his fingers twisting against her palms. His lips parted, rigid and tight, his voice a deep whisper that brought a thrill to her body and a chill down her spine.

"I was not created to fight for happiness. Humans do that. I was made to have a deathly weapon in my hand and a corrupted soul unable to feel, to taste, to hear, to _understand._ I am not human, don't I have the responsibility or the wish to be happy, for that feeling has been barred from my identity. "

"I don't believe it. I heard the planet, Sephiroth. There are too many things ahead of us. There's hope, _and a future._ Not everything is over. You can always turn back; forgive yourself and you'll be able to weave a new destiny. I will be part of it. We are the same: _Protectors of the peace. _In one way or another, we are protectors of the peace, even if your ways are more stubborn and obstinate than mine. After all, we are Cetra, ancients, guardians of Gaia and the planet. Is your heart filled with destruction and sorrow, is mine corrupted with a deep sadness, but a never giving-up ability to move on with my life. I was _brought to you, to help you_, to show you the way through a better path. Is the bond between us oppressed with hatred or filled with caring, it is only a choice we have to make."

His lips shut still to her speech.

"What's your role in my life, Aeris? Is it the one of a companion, of a stranger, of an adviser? Why are you doing here, by my side?"

"You brought me with you from Midgar, from the evil being that was chasing me. In all this time, Sephiroth, I have been wondering about why do _you_ want me to be here. I have no answers, though, didn't you care to give any."

"And why did I hear you in the first place in the Lifestream? Being an ancient for all my life, why can I hear you just now? Hear your soul singing in my ears, read the feelings written on your heart, your thoughts ringing on my head like bells…Why now, why did you bring such feelings to me?"

"It is written. On the stars. Our fate leaded us together, by different, lonely paths, which we were chosen to walk."

"The only path for me to walk is the path of no bonds. Nor spiritual or carnal. I bring death, I bring an endless shadow. And with destruction, I will bring salvation to this planet and eradicate its destroyers from the surface. And Cetra will come out of their shells and live again back on Gaia. And I will have a place between them."

"The planet won't be saved with destruction nor darkness, Sephiroth, you have to underst-"

"I WON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING YOU SAY! YOU AREN'T RIGHT AND I PREPARED THE CRISIS AND THE SALVATION LONG AGO!"

Aeris fell backwards, terrified by the sudden glance on Sephiroth's eyes, filled with darkness, to a deep abyss where he was folded in emptiness. Shadows danced in the rock walls, the ocean shut his lips and fell in a mortified silence. Like in the Mythril Caves, she heard the singing voices of the Deepness, but those weren't the ones of the planet. The ones that singed around Sephiroth's figure were much more deathly, even more ancient, deeper and wiser.

The girl didn't run from the tall man. Instead, she looked at him, her emerald eyes focused on his sorrowful jades. Thin arms circled his neck, her head buried in his silver hair, eyes closed shut. She did not want to see the darkness. She truly believed that there was no evilness in his heart. Just confusion. The madness was the factor that raised the shadows from the Deepness. If madness was gone, so the shadows would be.

The voices slowly fell back to the underground, backing away from the force emanated by the young girl. Everything calmed down. The waves crushed the shore, moonlight crossed the cave they were residing.

Sephiroth's fingers gently circled her shoulders, his arms embracing her tiny back crushing the bones of her shoulders. His head fell limply to her shoulder, his lips touching the strands of hair that escaped the tight braid of chestnut hair. The girl's body stiffened from his touch and Zack's images flashed right in front of her eyes. The boy's touch had been so different from the one of this man. Sephiroth was so solemn, so respected, and so serious. But he was walking down a road she wouldn't hold on to; If she did, her heart would be corrupted by his vengeance, by sorrow, and Aeris would be Sephiroth, and no salvation would be possible for the planet.

_But the bond was strong._

"You have such grace, Aeris" Sephiroth said in a whisper.

And he did not talk until the next morning.

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_**Author's notes: **__Oh my lord, I didn't update in centuries! Please forgive me! And I don't tend to quit on this, please do not abandon this! : ) And please tell me what you think of this chapter! Gives me strength to move on! :D Hope you like it! Revelations ahead and improvements on their relationship as you can see! Probably Cloud and the gang in the next chapters! Review!!!_


	12. The Verses

_**Author's Notes: **__*Ahem*_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own the plot._

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Hidden Weakness

_**Chapter 11 – The Verses**_

Sephiroth was sitting next to a tree, legs crossed, Masamune crossing his lap. He was polishing his blade with a piece of cloth, silently humming a war-song he heard in his past and mostly had forgotten. The wind was blowing gently, caressing the tree branches and the grass blades, which softly oscillated in the land below the hill he was sitting in. At his right, a stream gently flowed, cutting the plains in two separate parts. Its blue tones certainly brought some piece to his monochromatic panorama

He then ignored his beloved sword, and turned his head to the girl, near the shore of the river. He thought about turning to his previous position, but the sight of the gentle young woman grabbed his gaze and forced it to remain placed in the small figure.

Aeris was, in one single word, an _angel._ He wondered, though, how many times men had called her by that. An angel. Truly innocent and lovely naïve, the girl's charm had begun to fill the hole in Sephiroth's heart. At first, she was only a tool to this plan, only a device to his mother's calling. After a while, life started so spread from her endless wisdom, and with that, the charming fusion of knowledge and human traits, a mix that was pleasantly delightful to the ex-general.

There she was, palely standing with her feet immersed in the crystalline water, her arms bouncing at the sides of her body. Her pink dress was tied to her knees with Sephiroth's blue ribbon; her shoes had been put near the shore of the river, where the water couldn't reach them.

It was an unknown force that moved Sephiroth's feet, but he found himself descending the cliff, amused by the view. He was even more amused when he reached the riverside and heard a pure voice reciting some verses. Aeris was speaking softly, slowly walking, drawing a circle in the surface of the water. Her eyes were closed, long eyelashes casting shadows on her face. Sephiroth leaned over and used his sharp ears to try to hear the poem.

"_There are memories,_

_Oh so vague, small,_

_Like embers, sparks_

_Of a Summer firewood."_

He took a step closer to the girl. She didn't notice the movement, as he came closer to the shore. He lowered and started to work on his boot's buckles. His eyes were fixed in the pink figure, framed by the sparkles the sun caused on the water. There was a shine on his emeralds.

"_I offered you a secret,_

_Deep, like the warm sea,_

_Exuberant in its subtleness._

_You kept it within you, not revealing it_

_But, as porcelain, you wrapped it _

_In satin paper and locked it up_

_In your chest of antiquities."_

After his boots were removed, his hands progressed to the buckles of his leather cape. Starting up, he didn't wait for Aeris to finish the poem. After a bit, his jacket fell to the floor, exposing his toned chest. Sephiroth shivered under the cold breeze. Aeris stopped on her tracks when Sephiroth's foot stepped into the water. Her lips, however, didn't stop moving.

"_My words were not ancient, _

_Either were my gestures or expressions. _

_I tried to engrave them in permanent ink_

_In the veil that once sealed your memories."_

"What a sweet lullaby" he murmured, sliding through the water.

"_You reduced my memory to ashes_

_You broke the promise of leaving it within you_

_and keep it alive_

_Like an ephemeral flame."_

"Aeris…"

"_I won't forgive you, and I won't forget you_

_Or I let you go, or I grab you_

_You always seem so far, even when close_

_You always seem so close, even when far."_

Sephiroth stopped near the young woman, his eyes caressing her figure in a swift motion. Long ago, he had looked deep within her eyes and only found innocence, and a lack of passion that restrained him for touching her body, from touching her _soul. _But after they had passed the Mythril Mines, something ancient, and prophesized rose in their bond. Was it lust, or just a play, even an act, even if not sober enough to be called drama, Sephiroth could not say. But the physical and spiritual laces between them were getting incredibly strong, and there was no way to deny it. Even the nature pushed them to each other.

"_It's pure agony, to see you move on, _

_Without capacity to take me with you_

_Because if you gave me your arm,_

_I would have no hand to grab"._

Then, she opened her eyes. The vision of the tall man, standing next to her, provoked a sob on her. Strangely, in fact, she found herself accustomed to the sight. Her cheeks weren't flushed by the vision of Sephiroth's semi-nakedness, or by the piercing gaze he was offering her. She looked at the man and thought that mayhap, she could have known him her entire life. Every centimeter of his skin, every detail of his expression. She looked and thought there wasn't anything else to learn.

"Sephiroth…"

She raised her arms to his neck and smiled as she was engulfed in shadows.

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_**Author's notes:**__Ok, first of all, I would like to thank to my later reviewer, who made me jump into the story again =) For that, I thank Senshi of Sadness. _

_I also want to thank for the users who favorite my story in the last weeks, because they also made me jump into the story =)_

_Well, this chapter was rather short. I have to say that the "poem" that I used here, was created in my "personal life" and I decided to put it here. It was only translated in the creation of this chapter, so it probably doesn't make any sense and lost its charm, because it really is better in my language =)_

_Thank you all!_

_~ravenswan32_


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